McCully Murray: Urgent Debates — SAS—Deployment to Afghanistan 
McCully Murray: Urgent Debates — SAS—Deployment to Afghanistan 
[Volume:656;Page:5600] 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY (Minister of Foreign Affairs) 
: 
 There are few more difficult decisions for any Government to make than the decision to deploy men and women from its armed forces into a theatre of conflict. No Government in the world makes such a decision lightly and I assure members of the House today that this Government did not make that decision lightly. 
The decision to yet again deploy the SAS into Afghanistan in the near future was a decision taken after careful reflection. It was made in the context of the wider review of New Zealand strategy in relation to Afghanistan. It was made in the light of the review of the wider international effort in Afghanistan that has taken place over recent months. Above all the decision was made after determining that the further deployment of our SAS in Afghanistan was in the national interests of New Zealand and New Zealanders. 
I welcome the opportunity to share with the House today some of the thinking that lay behind the Government’s decision. New Zealand’s engagement in Afghanistan has grown incrementally since the initial deployment of the SAS by the previous Labour Government in 2001. New Zealand’s engagement now includes a significant deployment of New Zealand Defence Force personnel leading and manning the provincial reconstruction team in Bamian province. It includes the assignment of military staff and liaison officers to the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. It includes deployment of military logistics communications and medical specialists. It includes a police training team operating under the European Union policing project EUPOL which is based in Bamian with the provincial reconstruction team. It includes a development assistance programme now worth $9 million this year that is focused on agriculture education health small infrastructure and the promotion of human rights. It includes diplomatic accreditation from our embassy in Tehran. 
As I have already said the review on which Cabinet based its decisions looked at the totality of our engagement taking account of the situation in Afghanistan and of the changing strategy of the international coalition to which New Zealand belongs. 
As is widely known the level of violence in Afghanistan has been rising and the Government of Afghanistan has been less than successful in extending its authority throughout the country. In response the international coalition has been adjusting its strategy. The key elements of that emerging strategy include a renewed and increased commitment to Afghanistan by the international community a strengthened Security Council mandate for the UN assistance mission to coordinate international non-military assistance under the guidance of a special representative of the Secretary-General and a NATO comprehensive strategic military political plan to better coordinate International Security Assistance Force military support to Afghanistan and to improve coordination of international civil and military assistance with the UN assistance mission. The strategy includes a strong emphasis on training the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police to take over lead responsibility for security. It includes a rebalancing of the international effort towards development and governance assistance including additional aid flows and increasing civilian participation. Finally it includes injections of additional military forces to stabilise the security situation and to maximise the effectiveness of development and governance assistance. 
The decisions taken by the Cabinet of New Zealand last week place New Zealand’s contributions for the medium-term future within this broader international strategy. The further deployment of our SAS is our contribution to the renewed efforts by coalition military forces to improve security so that the non-military aspects of the international effort can be implemented in a sustained fashion. I agree with those who say that military force alone will not achieve our objectives in Afghanistan but those objectives will not be achieved without military responses to the insurgency. 
As a coalition partner from the beginning in Afghanistan New Zealand must play its part. We have a direct and vital interest in supporting the international effort to deny international terrorism a base in Afghanistan as the death of a New Zealander in a recent Jakarta bombing reminds us all. The decision to deploy the SAS to Afghanistan was ours. The Government was responding to a formal request from the International Security Assistance Force. Requests to consider further military contributions were also received from coalition partners including Australia the UK and the US. We concluded that the SAS was best suited to the campaign being waged in Afghanistan today. Our decision has been welcomed by the Afghanistan Government and other coalition partners. 
Above all other considerations the Government decided that a further deployment of the SAS to Afghanistan was in the best interests of New Zealand and New Zealanders. New Zealanders are a highly mobile people. New Zealand nationals travel in planes and they stay in hotel rooms and resorts. Where terrorists strike around the world the chances are that New Zealanders will be at risk. All New Zealanders today have a strong interest in reducing the threat of international terrorism and the ability of Afghanistan to play host to the terrorist groups that are present there. 
As required by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 we have formally notified the United Nations Secretary-General of the decision to deploy the SAS to Afghanistan under the International Security Assistance Force which is mandated by the Security Council under chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. We have updated our military technical arrangement with the Government of Afghanistan. We have also obtained a renewed assurance from the Government of Afghanistan that any persons transferred to Afghan custody after being detained by New Zealand forces will be treated humanely in accordance with the international obligations of both countries. 
The review outcome I have spoken of today will change our involvement in the Bamian provincial reconstruction team that New Zealand has led and manned since 2003. For some time the International Security Assistance Force and the coalition partners have been examining the functions and performance of the provincial reconstruction teams. There is no single model of provincial reconstruction team operations. Each lead country has brought its own operating style and personnel mix. Earlier this year I was privileged as a member of this Parliament and the only member of this Government to date to visit our provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: No I’ve been there twice. 
Hon MURRAY McCULLY 
: I am the only member of the current Government to visit I say to Mr Goff. I know that some members of the previous Government have taken the opportunity to visit. I am sure they will share my view that our representatives in the provincial reconstruction team in Bamian have done New Zealand proud. When I visited Afghanistan all the leaders I spoke to in Kabul—whether they were leaders from Afghanistan or those involved in the international effort—without exception spoke in the highest possible terms of the contribution that has been made by members of the New Zealand Defence Force who serve in the provincial reconstruction team and by those who assist them. 
Variations in security conditions between locations have affected the precise role and configuration of the individual provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan today. Some have long had a civilian component doing development and governance work. Some have had civilian leaders or joint civil and military leadership. Some have patrolled far beyond their bases and others have worked within a small geographical area close to base. 
The re-examination of provincial reconstruction teams that has taken place has informed a new international strategy. From the outset the key function of provincial reconstruction teams has been to provide security and stability in a region in order to facilitate the delivery of Government assistance capacity building and governance improvements. As the security situation improves the requirement for external providers of security will diminish and the responsibility for security should be transferred to Afghan security forces. 
As part of this process more emphasis will be given by international partners to development and governance assistance with civilian personnel as providers and coordinators where that is appropriate. Effective development programmes are vital in winning the support of ordinary citizens in Afghanistan. Bamian is among the more secure provinces in Afghanistan today. It is a suitable place in which to begin a transition to Afghan leadership of security responsibility. As this transition proceeds there will be a phased reduction of the military component of the provincial reconstruction team. The Government expects that the transition will be complete within 3 to 5 years. 
The official development assistance allocation for Afghanistan will be progressively increased with a greater emphasis on agriculture and continuing high priority will be given to education and health services. A team from NZAID and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will visit Afghanistan within the next 3 or 4 months to identify options for enhanced engagement in agriculture. The recommendations of the team will shape the future of the official development assistance programme for the 3 or 4 years ahead. 
Bamian province will continue to be the focus of New Zealand’s development assistance role. A development adviser will be appointed to the provincial reconstruction team to lead the shift in emphasis towards development. We recognise that New Zealand’s aid allocation is small in relation to the needs of the province and that other donors including international agencies and non-governmental organisations are active there. Part of the adviser’s functions will be helping to bring greater coherence and coordination to international assistance provided to Bamian province. A suitably qualified appointee might in the future serve concurrently as the civilian co-leader of the provincial reconstruction team. 
Implementing these changes effectively will require enhanced consultation with the Government of Afghanistan and coalition partners. For this reason we also intend to station a senior diplomat in Kabul for up to 2 years to carry out the work and to oversee and coordinate the reorientation of New Zealand’s engagement in Afghanistan. As a result of the review of New Zealand’s commitment to Afghanistan we should have a coherent whole-of-Government strategy in operation there. 
I am confident today that the vast majority of New Zealanders will join me in saying to the members of our SAS that when they are deployed into Afghanistan they go with the unambiguous and unqualified support of the New Zealand public. All of us wish to see our people who serve overseas respected and to see them return safely. Certainly the Government will do everything it can to ensure that that is the case. 
I emphasise in closing that in taking the steps I have referred to today the New Zealand Government is acting in concert with the thinking of the international community lifting the level of civilian work and development work that is taking place in Afghanistan today but also lifting the level of military support that goes there to make sure that those who carry out the development and governance support work are able to carry out their work safely. I trust that New Zealanders will join us in wishing all of those who serve our country in Afghanistan a safe return.