83.3% of Australians want Parliament to decide whether our troops are sent into armed conflict abroad, according to a nationwide Roy Morgan opinion poll released recently.
In the survey of 1052 people, only 16.7% said they favour the current system whereby The Prime Minister and the executive alone decide if Australia goes to war.
“Ordinary Australians want their local MPs and Senators to oversee this life and death decision, not just the Prime Minister and a few ministers behind closed doors,” said Paul Barratt AO, a former Secretary of Defence and President of Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR).
“The disastrous Iraq conflict and the drawn out Afghanistan deployment have made people rethink how we as a nation view overseas wars. This survey result is an overwhelming demand for more oversight and transparency,” he said.
The poll found that support for reform is very strong across the political spectrum.
More than 75% of all Labor, Coalition and Greens voters believe that Parliamentary approval should be required before Australian troops are deployed.
Overall support for Parliamentary approval being required has jumped more than 6% since the last poll was undertaken in 2014.
Read the full release here.
Comments
4 responses to “Overwhelming support for war powers reform (Australians for War Power Reform Dec 2, 2020)”
There is no argument on anything on foreign affairs, nor any affairs for that matter that will permeate our current political class. There is only one solution,
citizens who care about our country and its place in the World must stand for Parliament. Only one thing impacts on our politicians, fear of losing their job!
Any deployment overseas should also receive support of a majority of citizens chosen at random from the Australian citizenry – as a jury is.
There is no argument on anything on foreign affairs, nor any affairs for that matter that will permeate our current political class. There is only one solution, citizens who care about our country and its place in the World must stand for Parliament. Only one thing impacts on our politicians, fear of losing their job!
The idea that Parliament should approve the sending of armed ADF personnel to conflicts outside Australia is a good one. Trouble is, getting this idea to work is a whole other matter. Suggestions?
Also bear in mind that if this idea could be made to work, subsequent Parliamentary examination would likely disclose the real reason why approval was being sought. Given our history of involvement in overseas conflicts, you have to wonder if the Australian public would (knowing the real reason) want our forces to get involved in other peoples’ wars.