Mary Henry (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House. Naturally I am most supportive of this effort in conjunction with the United Nations. It is wise to remember, however, that as Senator Brian Hayes said, this is a peace-enforcing exercise. Senator Moylan mentioned the Congo, the only other peace enforcing exercise in which we have been involved where we suffered serious losses. Our troops are facing danger but I am sure the Minister and the Chief of Staff would not allow them to undertake a mission for which they were not properly equipped and trained. We can let them go forward with our full support.

This mission should have started many years ago. The people of Liberia have suffered grievously over the last ten years. It is good to see our troops going out in solidarity with a force that is mainly African, including 15,000 Nigerians. Our experience in many other parts of the world will be particularly useful to those who are less experienced. Like Senator Hayes, I was disgusted with the behaviour of the United States Administration during the summer. It must have been dreadful for the people of Liberia to see aircraft and naval carriers on the horizon and nobody coming to put a stop to the fighting. They have appealed to America to help them. It is extraordinary that a few hundred troops cannot be spared when there are 150,000 in Iraq who were not asked to be there.