Norman Russel: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Norman Russel: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 21 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4537. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
4. 
Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Will he recommit the provincial reconstruction team to Bamian province in Afghanistan when the current deployment ends in October; if so why? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 I have been clear that the withdrawal of the provincial reconstruction team from Bamian will take place in 2013. We are continuing to work on dates for that although it is likely to be around April. If the member is asking whether the present rotation will be replaced with another when the rotation ends then the answer is yes. However I will not be commenting on or confirming the specific timing of the rotation changes as is standard practice. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: What work has the Government been doing to develop an exit strategy for the provincial reconstruction team given that President Hamid Karzai in early 2011 called for the withdrawal of the provincial reconstruction teams throughout Afghanistan? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: The Government has been working with the Chief of Defence Force and the military on the withdrawal programme. As you are aware in terms of Bamian we are one of the first provincial reconstruction teams to transition out. By transitioning out in around about April 2013 we will be in line with other similar provincial reconstruction teams. We are now working on making sure that the exit of our 145-plus personnel in Bamian Province is done in the safest way possible for those particular men and women. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Has the number of troops stationed in Bamian increased or decreased since 2010 when the then defence Minister Wayne Mapp signalled that we would begin to draw down the provincial reconstruction team from September 2011? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I simply do not have those numbers to hand. I am happy to go and get those numbers. I can give them to the member. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Will the current provincial reconstruction team deployment all be withdrawn in the rotation in October or whenever it happens? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Firstly I think the member needs to make sure he gets his terminology correct. The deployment is the commitment of our forces to Afghanistan. The rotation is the period of each of the groups that goes through. If the question is whether all of them will be replaced that is an answer that only the Chief of Defence Force can give. That is a matter for him to decide—who comes out and who stays in. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: So if we assume that the vast bulk of the current provincial reconstruction team can be withdrawn in October or whatever the date is that the Government plans to do the rotation is it necessary to send in another deployment to replace them? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: The advice I have had from the Chief of Defence Force is yes. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: What defence equipment in Afghanistan is so vital or difficult to remove that it will take until 2013 to pack it up? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Well there are a number of issues there. I mean firstly we have three bases in operation in Afghanistan. We have significant bases that need to remove equipment that for a variety of reasons it is not possible nor sensible for us to leave in Afghanistan. We also deal with issues around weather. The member will be aware that the weather closes in when the snows come in November and that continues for a period of time. So overall on the best advice we have had the most probable and likely and sensible date is April 2013. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Is the Prime Minister saying that we are staying in Afghanistan past the October or thereabouts rotation because of the logistical reasons or because of the commitments we have made to the International Security Assistance Force? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: It is because of a number of reasons. Firstly we have been on a transition path that is part of an overall commitment made by all International Security Assistance Force and NATO countries as they exit Afghanistan. So our commitments are partly for those reasons. Secondly it is because of logistical reasons. Thirdly it is allowing us to finish some of the humanitarian aid efforts that as we have been pointing out today have been hugely successful. So it is a combination of all these things. I think that if we take a step back what we can say is that we have been there as the provincial reconstruction team since 2003. We all in this House and across New Zealand mourn the loss of those 10 soldiers and we pay tribute to their service but I think we can also look with some great pride at the work that they have achieved in those last 8 years or 9 years and I do not think we would either honour the loss of those individuals or mark properly the contribution that New Zealand has made by making a rushed exit for the door. I think we should do that in a sensible orderly and professional way as has been the basis of all of our efforts in Afghanistan since Helen Clark sent the SAS there in 2001 and the provincial reconstruction team in 2003. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Without dishonouring those who have fallen in Afghanistan does the Government understand that reducing the risk to the remaining New Zealand forces over there could help reduce the risk of any further loss of life and hence will the Government be pulling out of the north-east part of the province which seems to be the most dangerous part of the deployment? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: First let me give the member an assurance that the Government works with the military to make sure that we provide the most safe and secure environment as we possibly can in Afghanistan but put it in the context of the fact that this is a war zone. So the Government makes sure that the resources are there that the support is there we are constantly reviewing what takes place there and we do everything we can to provide security and safety but unfortunately we are dealing with a quite sophisticated insurgent group which has been very active in recent times. So in terms of that the member can take some confidence that we are doing those things. In terms of the withdrawal of the provincial reconstruction team that will be a staged process for a variety of different reasons. But at this point I am not in a position to detail exactly the timing of the different stages as we pack up various different camps and bases that we have. 
David Shearer 
: Will the Prime Minister accept the Labour Party’s support for an orderly transition of the forces out of Afghanistan as promptly as possible? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I am more than happy to give the member a briefing on all the things that are taking place the reasons for why we are going through this process and why it is the belief of the Chief of Defence Force and the military that the programme that we are on to withdraw is the right one. I think to be frank we have worked in a spirit of cooperation for a very long period of time with the Labour Party on this issue as I think National did in Opposition and we are more than happy to inform the member of the rationale for what is happening and why we are doing what we are doing. Some of that information is confidential and we cannot put it in the public domain but we respect the member’s word and he would obviously appreciate that information. If he and the Opposition defence spokesman want to have a briefing then I am happy to have that arranged by the Chief of Defence Force. 
Dr Russel Norman 
: Has his Government changed the mandate of the provincial reconstruction team given that when they were first deployed under the Helen Clark Government in 2003 the then defence Minister Mark Burton stated very clearly that they were not a “combat unit”? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: I do not have the original mandate that the member speaks of to hand so I cannot comment about whether there are differences from those ones or the ones that my Government has rolled over as each rotation has gone through. But what I can say is that the provincial reconstruction team does a variety of different tasks in Bamian and for the most part those have been engagement with and working with the local community working on areas of development but there has always been an element of providing security for our humanitarian aid efforts so that those workers can carry on the great works that we have seen. As I noted today I think we can be very proud of some of those efforts. We now have a situation where half of all primary school children who go to school in Bamian are girls; there is a multi-faculty institution Bamian University with 2700 people there in operation; and the mortality rate for children under 5 has almost halved. So I think the men and women of whom there are a very large number who have now served in that provincial reconstruction team since 2003 deserve the congratulations of this country on the efforts and the work that they have done and I hope that in the years to come it will bear fruit for the people of Bamian.