I’m very pleased to be here today for Anzac Day celebrations. Thank you for inviting me.

War is always tragic, whether it is arm in arm combat in stinking trenches nearly a century ago or warfare in the deserts of Afghanistan today.

Many of you may believe war is never the answer – that our presence in Afghanistan is futile and that it has put Australians more at risk of terrorist attacks than ever before.

For these reasons, many of you may support the Prime Minister’s decision to withdraw Australian troops from Afghanistan at the start of 2014.

One thing is certain – the longer this war goes on the more complicated the situation becomes.

Let me tell you about twenty-two-year-old Private Benjamin Ranaudo who was serving in Afghanistan.

On July 18, 2009, Private Ranaudo went on a dangerous early morning mission – searching for a bomb-making operation which Australian troops planned to disrupt.

At 6.47 am the soldiers triggered an explosive device planted by insurgents. The blast caught Benjamin and his mates off guard. He was killed instantly.

Benjamin was the 11th Australian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.

There have now been 32 such deaths.

Benjamin’s older sister, Amy Ranaudo, now 27, says the process of grieving has taken a lot longer than she thought it would.

And it continues to this day.

There are moments when her longing for her brother is acute. She says: “I got engaged and I couldn’t tell him … I couldn’t ring him and tell him I got engaged.”

Despite this tragic loss, Benjamin’s family hasn’t changed their position on Afghanistan. They agree with what Benjamin said in a video interview recorded as he prepared to leave for his last tour of duty:

“I think what we’re doing over there is the right thing and we’re helping the Afghan people rebuild their country and yeah, I think we should be there,” he says.

Indeed there have been vast improvements, particularly for women, since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001. According to an Oxfam report, 2.7 million girls are now in school, compared to just a few thousand during Taliban times. In the new Afghan parliament, 27 per cent of MPs are female – far higher than the world average.

While the stated goal is to leave behind 195,000 competent Afghan soldiers and 157,000 police the challenges are formidable. Afghanistan’s army is plagued by corruption, desertion, illiteracy and drug use. The reputation of the police is worse. There are many cases of rape, extortion, kidnapping and murder by Afghan police.

So, despite the West’s efforts, the prospects are grim for war-ravaged Afghanistan. More Afghan civilians were killed last year alone than the number of people who lost their lives in the 2001 September 11 attacks.

The UN estimates the Taliban were responsible for 77 per cent of these deaths.

Now let me tell you about Fawzia Koofi.

Left to die in the sun Fawzia Koofi was one of many unwanted Afghan baby girls in the 1970s. Today she is the first female deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament and a woman’s rights activist.

She has been subject to many attempts on her life, one in 2010, when gunmen thought to be Taliban, riddled her car with bullets while she and her two young daughters were hiding inside. Last December security authorities warned her that the Haqqani network was trying to assassinate her.

Many fear for her life. But what Koofi fears is that in its rush to withdraw from Afghanistan and make a deal with the Taliban, the West will abandon her people to an uncertain fate.

What she fears is that the country will return to where it was before the 2001 intervention.

And what she believes is that any Taliban involvement in the political running of the country will adversely affect women.

For these reasons, Australia must continue to provide support to Afghanistan. Afghan security forces will simply not be strong enough to defeat or contain the Taliban after 2014.

So today, as we honour the fallen on Anzac Day, I ask two things of you:

I ask you to honour the bravery and courage of Private Benjamin Ranaudo and his family.

I ask you to safeguard the lives of Fawzia Koofi and her children and to help her continue the good work she is doing in the Afghan parliament and for women’s rights in Afghanistan.

We cannot turn away from the people of Afghanistan.

We cannot turn away from the thirty-two Australian soldiers who sacrificed their lives.

In true Anzac Spirit let’s see this through.

Thank you.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lester, T (Reporter) 2012, ‘Still Missing Benjamin’, website transcript, 25 April, The Age Newspaper Melbourne, viewed 3 May 2012, http://www.theage.com.au/national/still-missing-benjamin-20120424-1xj9d.....

Thompson, G and P Cronau (Reporters) 2012, ‘Blood and Honour’, TV program website transcript, first posted 12 April, Four Corners, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast, viewed 4 May 2012, .

Lewarne, P (Reporter) website transcript 2012, ‘Prospects grim for war-ravaged Afghanistan’, TV program website transcript, 10 April, 7.30 Report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast, viewed 4 May 2012, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-10/violence-questions-possible-peace-....