HAMISH ROBERTSON: With the latest opinion polls suggesting that the majority of Australians back our troops staying in Iraq until their task is finished, the Federal Government is trying to intensify the pressure on Labor leader Mark Latham, and will this afternoon bring on a debate over the issue of support for the troops.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Labor's position is 'chaos' and undermines the credibility of Mark Latham, following shadow spokesman Kevin Rudd's inability last night to back unequivocally the Opposition leader's claim that Labor decided on its "troops out" position 12 months ago.
As for when the Government would bring the soldiers, sailors and air force personnel back, Mr Downer says "when the job is finished, we'll let you know".
From Canberra our Chief Political Correspondent Catherine McGrath reports.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: The Foreign Minister is trying to intensify the pressure on Opposition leader Mark Latham over Australian troops in Iraq.
ALEXANDER DOWNER: Mr Latham said yesterday morning that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq by Christmas had been Labor party policy for 12 months.
Last night Mr Rudd revealed on the Lateline program that he didn't know that this was the case, because he couldn't remember when the Labor party had made that policy, and through a jumble of words, it became clear that this is… it became perfectly clear this is policy on the run.
Now, this isn't just an issue of substance, this gets to the integrity of Mr Latham. When Mr Latham says that this is a policy that has been a Labor Party policy for a year and Mr Rudd can't remember anything about it and obfuscates, well then it's perfectly clear somebody's not telling the truth here.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: And Alexander Downer continued.
ALEXANDER DOWNER: It's just chaos. It is absolute chaos, and it's an enormous embarrassment for the Labor Party and it strikes at the very heart of Mr Latham's integrity.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: The Government believes it may have found a way to damage Mark Latham and it's going to try to step it up again in the debate this afternoon. But both independent Meg Lees and Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett believe that the Government's planned Iraq debate is nothing more than a political exercise.
First Andrew Bartlett.
ANDREW BARTLETT: It's quite bizarre that the Prime Minister is putting a motion to Parliament seeking ratification of a decision about when the troops… of the troops staying there, when he wasn't interested in getting Parliament's approval to send them there in the first place, and indeed the Parliament didn't support the troops going in. Now he wants to have a motion saying that they should stay there.
MEG LEES: The Prime Minister should just leave well enough alone and get on with the business of running the country, not trying to score cheap points.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Senator Meg Lees.
But Labor's position may have been complicated somewhat this morning by backbencher Dick Adams who says defence forces could stay under a UN mandate.
DICK ADAMS: What we're going to be doing with Iraq is reconstructing it, and the United Nations is now starting to become involved, and I think in reality, I can't see how some of the great problems of Iraq is going to be solved unless the United Nations are there, with many other countries that are not there at the moment.
REPORTER: So you're open to Australian troops being in Iraq under the auspices of the UN?
DICK ADAMS: Of course, under peacekeeping… under a peacekeeping situation I'm quite open to that and I think most Australians would be.
CATHERINE MCGRATH: Labor backbencher Dick Adams.
So how long would the Government propose the troops stay? This morning Alexander Downer was noncommittal.
ALEXANDER DOWNER: We are in Iraq until the job is done. You see, we're not going to cut and run before we've done the job. It's as simple as that. We're not going to cut and run and leave our diplomats exposed there and therefore close our embassy. We're not going to cut and run and leave the new Iraqi army without the training that it deserves in order to provide security for the country.
But there's another issue… but we are not going to cut and run from the other 34 countries that form the stabilisation force. If we were to do that, if we were to cut and run from the other countries, I think that would do Australia immense damage in the international community.
REPORTER: You must be looking at some sort of time frame?
ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, when the job's finished we'll be letting you know.
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. That report by Catherine McGrath.
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