wenty years ago this month, Australian troops invaded Iraq as part of a US-led illegal invasion.

This foreign policy disaster set off a series of catastrophic events that still wreak havoc across the world today. Close to half a million people have died. Millions are still internally displaced. And the war created nearly five million orphans.

These devastating human outcomes are not the unavoidable effects of war. They are a direct result of illegal actions by politicians who refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

Coinciding with this shameful anniversary, I moved a motion this month to suspend Senate standing orders to debate the legality and legacy of the Iraq War, as well as Australia’s role in the catastrophe.

The motion sought to acknowledge the victims of the Iraq War, to pursue political accountability for the decision, and to insist on the withdrawal of all ADF personnel currently still in Iraq as part of Operation Okra and Operation Accordion.

’ve been trying to engage the Senate on this issue for some time in the lead-up to the anniversary. At the beginning of March, I put the question to Foreign Minister Wong in the chamber: in the Albanese Government’s opinion, was the invasion of Iraq illegal? Her response was that my questioning was irrelevant – that the government has more pressing contemporary matters to concern themselves with.

But the Iraq War is contemporary. It is pressing, and it is relevant. Because it has never truly ended. Today, Australian Defence personnel born after the invasion began are still deployed to Iraq as part of Operations Okra and Accordion.

My motion in the Senate was unsuccessful, but it did allow space for some discussion about Australia’s role in the Iraq War and about war more generally. It also revealed the disappointing attitudes of Labor and the Coalition, representatives of which were largely unwilling or unable to concede Australia’s culpability in this catastrophic war.

We know why that is, at least in part. Currently, the decision to send Australians to war lies squarely with the Prime Minister – just like it did in 2003. Both of the major parties have opposed any attempt to reform this. Foreign Minister Wong reiterated the Albanese Government’s position in support of the status quo as recently as this month.

But what is abundantly clear as we mark this grim anniversary is that we must urgently reform the way Australia goes to war. At the core of this is that we must never again allow ourselves to be dragged into war based on the whims or the lies of politicians.

That’s why the Greens want the decision to deploy ADF troops overseas to be a vote of the parliament.

wenty years ago, 92 percent of Australians were expressly opposed to entering into the Iraq War. They knew full well that the Howard Government was lying to them and feeding them false intelligence. They knew full well that the war would be a foreign policy and humanitarian disaster.

What John Howard knew full well, however, is that there is no requirement in this country to seek a vote of the parliament before the deployment of ADF personnel. So the government went ahead and did it anyway. Howard point-blank ignored the overwhelming majority to lead us into an illegal war we didn’t want, and he predicated this decision on an ambiguous legal mechanism without a single check, balance or safeguard.

We must move away from this undemocratic captain’s call and seek to actually represent the interests of the Australian public in Parliament. Going to war is a momentous decision with far-reaching ramifications – I can think of nothing more worthy of being put to a democratic vote by those elected to represent the people.

The Greens are also calling for an end to military pacts – like AUKUS – that further serve to drag us into wars we should not participate in. AUKUS forever shackles Australia to the US, thereby fundamentally undermining our ability to be considered an independent actor in our region. If this anniversary is to leave us with anything remotely positive, it surely should be the lesson that our sovereign decision-making powers must lie with us alone.

So instead of following the same disastrous path the Howard Government took us down 20 years ago, we need a comprehensive review of the political and structural failures that led us there in the first place.

We must work for an independent and peaceful foreign policy that puts the people in control of our decisions. We need a new approach to keep people safe, because what we have right now – and what the major parties are doing their darndest to uphold – is failing us all.

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