26 August 2013
The Hon. Tony Abbott MP
Leader of the Opposition
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Mr Abbott
I refer to my letter of 13 August seeking, on behalf of the
Campaign for an Iraq War Inquiry, to ascertain the Liberal Party’s policy in
the context of the current Federal Election campaign on several matters which
are of central importance to our membership.
The latest developments in Syria, which have led once again
to a situation in which we are awaiting for a definitive report from UN weapons
inspectors while our major ally contemplates whether to intervene militarily,
only serves to underscore the relevance of our questions to the conduct of
Australian foreign and defence policy.
Accordingly, I write again to urge you to let our members
and supporters, as well as the general public, have your answers to the
following questions as set out in my letter of 13 August:
1. Do
you believe the Prime Minister should continue to have the authority to take
Australia to war on her/his own?
2.
Would you support a new bill requiring parliamentary debate and approval
before the Australian Defence Force is deployed in overseas combat operations?
3. Do you support taking ANZUS back to its
(a)
Original obligation of consultations (not automatic military action);
(b) Original
geography (the Pacific area); and
(c) Original
purpose (defence against an armed attack)?
4. Do you support Article 1 of the ANZUS Treaty
which obliges Australia "to refrain... from the
threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the
United Nations"? Would you support legislation to require UN authorisation
for Australia to go to war other than in response to an armed attack?
5. The United States, the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands and Denmark have each initiated a public inquiry into their
involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Do you support a review of the
process by which the Australian Government decided to join the invasion, in
order to determine whether the process was satisfactory?
6. Do you believe that Australia should defer
to the established international channels for WMD verification, monitoring and
compliance?
I realise that considered
answers to some of these questions might require more time for careful
reflection than would be available to you in the limited time remaining before
election day, but they are important questions and we would appreciate whatever
insights or in-principle guidance you might feel able to give us in order to
enable us to evaluate your policy thinking about these important matters ahead
of the election.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Barratt
President
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