Inquiry into international armed conflict decision making

Inquiry into international armed conflict decision making

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has commenced an inquiry into international armed conflict decision making with the terms of reference referred by the Minister of Defence, the Hon Richard Marles MP.

The inquiry will review how Australia makes decisions to send service personnel into international armed conflict.

Terms of Reference

Inquiry into international armed conflict decision making
The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will inquire into how Australia makes decisions to send service personnel into international armed conflict having regard to:

• the approach of similar Westminster system democracies around the world;
• parliamentary processes and practices, including opportunities for debate to provide greater transparency and accountability on the deployment of the ADF;
• the security implications of pre-notification of ADF deployment that may compromise the safety of ADF personnel, operational security, intelligence and/or have unintended consequences; and
• any related matters.

Submission by Religions for Peace Australia

The National Executive of Religions for Peace Australia made one submission to this Parliamentary Inquiry. (This submission is numbered 108).

Summary of Recommendations from Religions for Peace Australia

• Recommendation 1 : that clear principles inform a non-partisan body of elected representatives (preferably the elected Parliament of Australia) with an official mandate to make decisions in relation to armed conflict decision-making and be accountable for all outcomes for our country and the region.
• Recommendation 2: Work to minimise the causes of conflict and ensure decision-making pathways to deploy armed forces clearly and transparently weigh up the combined social, political, ecological risks.
• Recommendation 3: that this Inquiry closely investigates the parallels between the decision-making pathways for sending Australian armed forces into war and into peace-keeping exercises.
• Recommendation 4: that our defence investments focus primarily building peace and preventing war, working to ensure the protection and resilience of Australian peoples and lands, including the continued protection and sustainability of our energy and food supply chains through climatic disruptions.
• Recommendation 5: that Australia’s defence exports (of hardware and of military intelligence, expertise and expert leadership) are directed towards building peace and stability, not earning income from indiscriminate arms sales to a range of countries, irrespective of their human rights records.