On Friday 31 March 2023 the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT) released the final report from its Inquiry into international armed conflict decision making. The full report can be found here.
The JSCFADT made seven recommendations to the federal government.
Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR) has prepared a full response to those recommendations which can be read here.
See also: AWPR Media Release – War Powers Inquiry Fails
I think that the Parliament’s veto should not be restricted to sending Australian troops overseas, but should also encompass allowing a foreign country to use Australia as a base to make war against another country. Australia could pay a very high price even if, for example, it doesn’t send “troops” to “defend” Taiwan, but allows the United States the use of bases in Australia – China may attack Pine Gap, Tyndal, North West Cape, or even Australian sites as punishment. We need to understand that, just because Australia’s participation in wars over the last 60 years has been in remote locations with no consequences on our soil, if we get involved what the PRC regards as a civil war in “One China” on their soil, a response on our soil will be swift, and catastrophic for us. We will not have the luxury of the war being thousands of kms away as it was in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam. There will be consequences. Devastating consequences.