Opinion | Where are Australia’s liberal values when it comes to Afghanistan?

Name: Thousands flee as Taliban surges in Afghanistan
Uploaded: 2021-07-16T20:00:11.000Z
Duration: 2 min 26 s
Description: Thousands flee as Taliban surges in Afghanistan

Walking away from the Afghan contractors who risked their lives for Australia suggests an expeditious, rather than genuine, commitment to those values

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

An armed supporter of a former Mujahideen commander stands guard on a roadside checkpoint in Herat, Afghanistan, on July 13. The Taliban are pressing on with their surge in Afghanistan ahead of US troop withdrawal, raising fear of reprisals on Afghanistans who supported the foreign troops. Photo: EPA-EFE

Daryl Guppy

Published: 4:00am, 17 Jul 2021Updated: 4:33am, 17 Jul 2021

Australia makes much of its values-driven approach to diplomacy and foreign policy decisions. It plays an active part in alliances such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and other international groupings that promote liberal values. At the recent G7 talks, Australian Prime Minister Morrison held up the torch of liberal values.

But when put to the test, Australia’s adherence to these values seems rather variable. The plight of those in Afghanistan who supported Australian troops and NGOs is the most recent acid test.

Australia has faced similar tests. It failed in the 1975 retreat from Indochina when local employees of its Phnom Penh and Saigon embassies were left behind.

But at other times Australia has demonstrated the values it espouses, eventually becoming one of the top countries taking in refugees from Vietnam. Australia’s intervention in Timor in 1999 was seen as repaying a debt as the Timorese had provided invaluable support for Australian troops in World War II.

Former prime minister John Howard, who was responsible for the original military deployment in Afghanistan, said Australia had a “moral obligation” to provide a safe haven to Afghan subcontractors who fear for their lives.

02:26

Thousands flee as Taliban surges in Afghanistan

But Australian bureaucracy moves slowly, with some applicants waiting up to six years for visas. Foreign Minister Marise Payne insists the government is prioritising visa applications based on their merits, but stressed that applicants must meet the country’s “rigorous health, character and national security requirements”.