BY ALISON DELLIT
On September 17, the Australian Senate passed a motion invoking the ANZUS treaty and endorsing the government's decision to "support within Australia's capabilities United States-led action against those responsible [for the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon]". The ANZUS treaty commits Australia to aid the US if it is attacked militarily.
Australian military personnel are already joining the war effort. The HMAS ANZAC has extended its presence in the Persian Gulf and Australian soldiers seconded to British and US military will be deployed. Australian intelligence operatives are also working with the US in planning military strikes.
Labor "opposition" leader Kim Beazley and Prime Minister John Howard have both indicated that Australian SAS forces may also be used.
The Senate motion was passed with the full support of the Coalition, Labor and Australian Democrats. Leading Labor "left" Senator John Faulkner declared: "We have all been impressed by the United States government's rational, deliberative and calibrated response."
Although the Democrats' Natasha Stott Despoja expressed "concern" about an open-ended commitment of troops, she told the Senate that the Democrats would "give the government the benefit of the doubt". Stott Despoja called on the government to increase funding to internal and external security services.
Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown unsuccessfully attempted to amend the bill to remove the clauses which invoked the ANZUS treaty and committed Australian military support. He voted against the unamended motion.
However, Brown made it clear that he supported the use of "swift military action" to "bring to justice" those who planned the attacks. However, Brown argued that this should be undertaken by the United Nations.
The only electoral party to oppose outright military "retaliation" for the attacks is the Socialist Alliance. The alliance's candidate for the Sydney seat of Reid, Lisa Macdonald, disagreed with Brown's position.
"The US has a veto on the United Nations Security Council. Any decision to establish a UN force to retaliate would be under virtual US control. To this day, the Iraqi people are being bombed under such an arrangement. War is not the solution to terrorism."