By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The prime minister and cabinet, not parliament, make the decision to go to war under Australia’s political system, the government said on Tuesday, responding to a parliamentary inquiry.
The Albanese Labor government said it will increase accountability by requiring a ministerial statement to be made in both Houses of Parliament “to inform a timely debate on the decision by the Executive to engage in major military operations”.
It will also set up a parliamentary committee with access to intelligence to improve scrutiny of major defence operations.
Defence Minister Richard Marles tasked a parliamentary committee in September with examining how the decision to go to war is made.
Australia has committed to 10 conflicts since World War One, most recently in Syria in 2015. Many of the wars which Australia has been involved in over its short history had been “tarnished by controversy”, the committee noted in its report.
Past wars had invoked public and political debate over how the government committed to war, it said. Australia’s constitution does not refer to war decisions.
The Defence Department opposed expanding parliament’s powers in war, because it would stop Australia responding rapidly to threats, and strategic partners would lose confidence in Australia’s ability, the committee said.
Some academic submissions referred to a blockade of Taiwan or the South China Sea as examples of where Australia needed to be able to respond quickly.
“This remains a decision for the Executive,” Marles said on Tuesday, agreeing with the committee’s main recommendation.
“It is important that parliament has effective mechanisms to examine and debate such decisions,” he added.
Australia is overhauling its defence force and increasing its preparedness, after a government review in April found the United States was no longer the “unipolar leader of the Indo Pacific”, and China was engaging in a major build-up of its military without transparency.
Australia’s major security ally, the United States, is increasing the type and number of forces it rotates through Australia, but does not have a permanent base in Australia.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; editing by Jason Neely)
