Greens put Labor on the spot over war

Pip Hinman

Labor Senators had another opportunity on March 17 to demonstrate their party's opposition to the Iraq war. But they voted with the Coalition against a Greens motion supporting the peace movement's calls not to send more troops to Iraq. The Democrats were the only other Senators who supported the motion, which called for Australian troops to be brought home.

Senator Kerry Nettle's motion noted the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the global protests and the deaths of coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. It called on the Coalition government to reverse its decision to send an extra 450 troops to Iraq.

The motion noted that the United Iraqi Alliance, which narrowly won the recent election, is campaigning for a timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational forces from Iraq, and called for the withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq "as a contribution to resolving the conflict".

Despite ALP Senator John Faulkner's recent anti-war speeches in the Senate querying why the government hadn't bothered to find out the numbers of Iraqi casualties, he too voted against the motion.

From Green Left Weekly, March 23, 2005.

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From GLW issue 620