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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (19 February) . . Page.. 232 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Mr Speaker, my motion calls for implementation of all UN resolutions that have called for disarmament of the entire Middle East. The motion also calls for commitment to total disarmament of all nuclear powers. The question of disarmament of the whole Middle East must be addressed. Unless this happens there will always be tension there. It is not surprising that countries object to the very unequal treatment Israel has been given over the years.

In conclusion, Mr Speaker, I want to touch on the issue of leadership. Mr Howard, Mr Blair and Mr Bush claim they are showing themselves to be leaders by pushing ahead with this war, despite widespread opposition. But this is not leadership. This is force and brutal power masquerading as leadership. They claim to be fighting for justice but cannot defend their arguments.

The majority of people are not convinced. They are distrustful of the claims of these men; they do not trust them as leaders. They want to see instead a politics where there is genuine deliberation and diplomacy, where there is genuine communication. They want to see leaders who can learn from history and who support the institutions that develop diplomatic solutions. They want leaders who see foreign policy as more than just counting to see who has the most weapons and going with them.

MR PRATT (9.02): Mr Speaker, I rise to condemn this motion.

Ms MacDonald: What a surprise.

MR PRATT: Don't be surprised. Think about the facts, Ms MacDonald. Mr Speaker, I have recently written about my experiences as an aid work manager in Kurdish northern Iraq in 1993 and 1994. Against the background of that wildly varying experience where the aid organisation that I was with delivered thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to about 11/2 million Iraqi Kurds, I decided it was most necessary to add my voice to the debate about the Iraqi situation and in recent months I was invited to comment on the national media.

Mr Speaker, I could no longer stand to see the gross misrepresentations, sometimes delivered by well-meaning but naive people but too often delivered through politically inspired misinformation. I find myself in that position again today, needing to respond to Ms Tucker's wildly inaccurate and misrepresentative motion.

Ms Tucker: Yes, it has the-

MR PRATT: Could you listen to me in silence, Ms Tucker, as I did when you were speaking.

Ms Tucker: You do provoke me. You say the most ridiculous things.

MR PRATT: Thank you very much, Ms Tucker. Mr Speaker, my motive for speaking and certainly-

Ms MacDonald: Talk to the hand because-

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