Greens introduce Bill to require Parliament to vote before sending Australians to war
2026-03-11
greens.org.au
The Greens today will introduce a Bill that will require both Houses of Parliament to vote before the Australian Defence Force can be sent overseas to engage in warlike actions.
War power reform bills have been proposed by the Greens for over 20 years, and have been routinely rejected by the Liberal and Labor parties. With Australia being sent into another illegal US war, without any democratic debate or input, the Greens today are reintroducing the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill, introduced by Senator Jordon Steele-John in 2020.
There is widespread community support for this reform, including a 2023 poll that found 90% of Australians support war powers reform, to enforce a Parliamentary vote before the deployment of troops.
The announcement from the Albanese Labor Government to send 85 military personnel, including an RAAF E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, to the Gulf and medium-range air-to-air missiles, into the conflict shows Australia has been fully dragged into another US forever war. This decision was made in a closed room by a handful of Labor cabinet members and zero parliamentary or public engagement or consent.
Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens leader said: “Labor’s Defence Minister finally revealed the truth last night about Donald Trump’s pressure for Australian deployment. Trump has been pressuring Australia to join his illegal war in the Middle East - it’s Trump calling the shots, and the Labor party is following.
“Albanese’s unquestioning support for Trump and Netenyahu’s illegal war shows why Australians deserve a say before their families are sent to war.
“Australians don’t want war. They weren’t asked if they back this illegal war. Parliament doesn’t get a say. Even the Labor backbench is reportedly unhappy. The only person that Albanese seems to listen to is Trump.
“We cannot allow a handful of the executives behind closed doors to take us to war, endangering civilians and putting Australian lives at risk whenever the US asks.
“Sending service members overseas without parliamentary approval risks unnecessary bloodshed. It undermines the accountability our veterans, their families and the people deserve.
“War will never deliver peace. Instead, civilians suffer, troops die, and the world becomes less stable. Parliament must be a counterweight to our government’s drive to appease Trump, Netanyahu, and others like them.
“The War Parties have fought against this because they know the public doesn’t want war - but the Green will keep pushing for this.”
Senator David Shoebridge, Greens spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, said: “Australia has joined another illegal US war, and the public got no say. That democratic failing is what this bill seeks to urgently address.
“We cannot have a handful of MPs from one of the war parties in the Commonwealth Parliament to send Australian troops into a string of US forever wars with no oversight and no public interest.
“Australians are outraged that after Iraq, after Afghanistan, the Australian military has been sent back to the Middle East as part of a US-Israeli illegal war. The Albanese Government has seen the decades of bloodshed and pain the US has caused across the Middle East, and signed us up for more.
“Australia’s defence and foreign policy elite are addicted to secrecy and hate the public having any say. AUKUS was decided in secret and AUKUS has driven us into this war. Democracy must not stop at the Foreign Minister's office.
“War will not help the Iranian people, it will cause untold pain across the region, make the world a more dangerous place and all done without the consent of the Australian people. It’s time that changed, and time democracy got a chance to save us from the next illegal US war.”
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