PM: [audio break] friends of Sergeant Brett Wood. Sergeant Wood was lost to us overnight. He was a very brave man, a brave soldier, a decorated soldier. He has been described by the Chief of our Defence Force this morning as a magnificent soldier. He was on his third deployment to Afghanistan.
Our hearts go out to his wife, who would be struggling to absorb this very dreadful news. Our hearts also go out to his family and friends, as they seek to come to terms with his loss.
He was a young man who had dedicated his life to the defence of this nation. This is a very difficult day for the nation, but most particularly a very difficult day for his family.
At the same time the nation needs to absorb the news that we have also had five soldiers wounded on Afghanistan. Two were wounded in the same incident as Sergeant Wood and they are seriously ill. Our thoughts are with them, they will receive the best of medical care and our thoughts are also with their families, who would be so desperately worried about them at this time.
Separately three other soldiers were also wounded; they too are receiving the best of medical care. Their families would be very worried about them and our thoughts go to their families and to those soldiers as they deal with their injuries. This is a very difficult day; this is a lot of bad news for the nation to hear all at the same time.
Every loss in Afghanistan hurts us as a nation and with so much bad news before the nation today, I know that there will be some who despair and wonder why we are there in Afghanistan and whether we are making any progress.
I think the best thing that I can say to people is to reiterate the words of Ben Roberts-Smith, our most recent VC winner. He said to me and he said to the nation ‘we are making a difference in Afghanistan' and we are making a difference in Afghanistan. Progress is being made, it's difficult, it's hard fought for and we are entering a fighting season which will challenge us. But progress is being made in Afghanistan and we are there for all of the right reasons, we are there to ensure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for terrorists.
Of course, as we look at the progress that is being made in Afghanistan we know that it comes at a terrible cost, particularly today we know that it comes at the cost of Australian lives and it's the dedication and bravery of people like Sergeant Wood who enable us to make the kind of progress that we are making in Afghanistan.
So, this is a difficult and tragic day in the life of our nation. Once again I do want to convey my condolences and the condolences of the Australian people to the family and friends of Sergeant Wood, who would be just in unimaginable pain today, having heard this news overnight.
I'll take a few questions.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you say that we're making a difference in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is really making a difference in Australia as well, with the loss of brave men like Sergeant Wood today. Osama bin Laden is gone, there is a sense that there's some fundamental underground shift has taken place. Can you suggest there's any revision of the timetable even to get us out?
PM: Well the timetable remains the same, that is we are there, training the Afghan National Army, we are there enabling the Afghan people to take security of their own nation. President Karzai has announced his intention that Afghanistan be in a position to do that by 2014. As I said to the Parliament when I spoke on this matter late last year, we will be there seeing the mission through.
There will be a process of transition - transition won't be a day or a moment in time, it will be a process - as areas of Afghanistan are sufficiently stabilised and sufficient local security forces are trained, that they can take over providing security themselves. So we need to transition when the conditions are right, there is no point going out, only to have to go back in because we have transitioned at a time that conditions aren't right.
We do confront a fighting season as we move to the warmer weather in Afghanistan. We know the intensity of fighting accelerates in that warmer weather and our soldiers will be out there doing some very brave and difficult things during this period.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, one gasping measure of any war is the ratio of people killed and wounded on both sides. Can you take the Australian people into your confidence and tell them what ratio this element of the war experienced by Australian soldiers is with regards to the numbers killed or injured among the Taliban insurgents?
PM: Look, I'm not in a position to give you numbers in that sense. This is not a conventional war, where soldiers in uniform stand on battle lines and confront each other and consequently it's not the sort of war where one can do tallies of losses in the way that may have been done for conflicts past.
This is a very difficult struggle, in very difficult circumstances. We went to Afghanistan because of terrorism, we went to Afghanistan because terrorists who had been trained there took Australian lives and the lives of so many others and in making the place safe, what we are seeking to do is deny terrorists the opportunity to train there. So that's all about security on the ground, it's all about a conflict where people don't wear uniforms and don't identify themselves and so where it's a far more difficult place to fight, then perhaps some of the imagery of traditional warfare that people would be more familiar with.
JOURNALIST: That said, 24 have been killed now, 160 wounded. Can you confirm that many more have been killed and wounded on the other side?
PM: Look, I am absolutely confident that in terms of our losses versus the losses of the insurgents that the insurgents have lost far more, yes I'm absolutely confident of that. And that is one of the things that is enabling us to clear, to hold, to make a difference on the ground. We are there to train, we are training the Afghan National Army. We are training police, so the situation, when it's stabilised, and it is stabilising, big gains have been made, then security leadership can transition to local forces.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, CDF said earlier the death of bin Laden had had virtually no impact in Afghanistan. I'm wondering if you could characterise for us how you see the connection now between the Taliban today in Afghanistan and al Qaeda and is it worth stepping up negotiations with the Taliban.
PM: Well, we know that terrorism, global terrorism, is a complex multi-headed beast. Of course bin Laden was the face known to the world as the leader of al Qaeda, but as I said when we discussed the death of bin Laden, the death of bin Laden does not mean that al Qaeda is dead, it's been dealt a very big blow, but it doesn't mean that al Qaeda is dead. And certainly global terrorism doesn't come in one shape, or one organisation, or in one man, so we need to continue the fight against terrorism and particularly to deny Afghanistan as a place for terrorists to train.
What we know is that al Qaeda was facilitated for training in Afghanistan, that's well known, we've seen the consequences of that training, tragically in violent incidents in our world that have taken thousands of lives, including the lives of Australians. So we are there on the same mission of strategic denial.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what are the clearest signs for you of progress being made in Afghanistan?
PM: The clearest signs for me are the reports that I get back from people who have been on the ground, which is why I took you to the words of Ben Roberts-Smith. What we measure in terms of progress on the ground is the degree of security that is experienced by our personnel and also by locals. We obviously measure the number of Afghan National Army personnel who have been trained and the level to which they've been trained.We measure the number of police who have been trained; we are also training police and the level to which they've been trained. We measure changes in governance and in basic conditions for the Afghan people; alongside our military effort is a considerable aid and development effort. Indeed they work in a combined team and I've met with them when I've travelled to Afghanistan myself, both the military commanders, but also our senior civilian representatives who are leading our aid teams there.
So we track all of this, but in terms of the powerful images, I think the powerful images come from the people who have been on the ground and can say to you, as Ben Roberts-Smith does say, that it is a different place from the Afghanistan that he first went to, that he can see that and feel that in terms of the security, he can see that and feel that in terms of the security for the local population, he can see that and feel that in the activities that the local population now feel they can do. Whereas before they cowered in fear, things we would take for granted, like having local markets and commercial activity where people can go and buy food and do the things that we just say are just such a normal part of daily life, we don't even think about them, but were not able to be done by local people when soldiers like Ben Roberts-Smith first went to Afghanistan.
Thank you very much.