Iran stokes instability, MP says
A RECENT visit to Afghanistan left Kooyong MP Josh Frydenberg in a military hospital.
A RECENT visit to Afghanistan left Kooyong MP Josh Frydenberg in a military hospital.
It wasn’t a shrapnel wound or a sniper, but a horrific stomach bug that put him in hospital for nine days in Dubai, and then in Melbourne. He shed 10 kilograms in that time.
Fortunately, the Liberal up-and-comer is now back on his feet and keen to share his first-hand knowledge of one of the toughest war zones on Earth.
It was not the first time Frydenberg had travelled to a war zone; the former political adviser visited Iraq in 2003 with his boss at the time foreign minister Alexander Downer. On the same trip, they made a visit to Iran – Israel’s most significant enemy.
It is the latter country that Frydenberg worries will fill the leadership void in Afghanistan if the NATO coalition does not succeed.
“I’ve been publicly quoted that Iran has been training and funding Taliban troops,” he said. “This is a very fragile region at present. The killing of Osama bin Laden has put Pakistan under a microscope. Iran is also stoking the fears of instability in the region and if there is a power vacuum Iran will move quickly to fill it.”
Optimistically, Frydenberg said there were definitely improvements in Afghanistan.
“Australia and America have made significant gains in Oruzgan province in terms of securing areas they previously haven’t secured,” he said.
The Jewish MP travelled as part of a bipartisan parliamentary delegation with Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Mike Kelly and fellow Liberals Senator Helen Kroger and Nola Marino. They spent two nights at the Australian base at Tarin Kowt and one in Kandahar.
“We met with senior Australian and American command in Oruzgan and we also flew Black Hawks out to meet the troops in the field,” Frydenberg explained, adding they also visited an Australian-funded mosque and girls’ school.
He also met Melbourne-based Jewish soldier, Private Aaron Chapman, who is serving in the trouble spot.
NAOMI LEVIN
Photo: Josh Frydenberg (left) at an Australian-built school in Afghanistan.
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