13 August 2013
The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Mr Rudd
I write to you on behalf of the Campaign for an Iraq War
Inquiry to ascertain the Australian Labor Party’s policy in the context of the
current Federal Election campaign on several matters which are of central
importance to our membership.
Our members and supporters would be interested to know your
answers to the following questions:
1. Do you believe the Prime
Minister should continue to have the authority to take Australia to war on
her/his own?
2. Would you support a new bill
requiring parliamentary debate and approval before the Australian Defence Force
is deployed in overseas combat operations?
3. Do you support taking ANZUS back to its
(a) Original obligation of consultations (not
automatic military action);
(b) Original geography (the
Pacific area); and
(c) Original purpose (defence
against an armed attack)?
4. Do you support Article 1 of the ANZUS Treaty
which obliges Australia "to refrain... from the
threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the
United Nations"? Would you support legislation to require UN authorisation
for Australia to go to war other than in response to an armed attack?
5. The
United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark have each
initiated a public inquiry into their involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Do you support a review of the process by which the Australian Government
decided to join the invasion, in order to determine whether the process was
satisfactory?
6. Do you
believe that Australia should defer to the established international channels
for WMD verification, monitoring and compliance?
Yours sincerely,
Paul Barratt
President
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