The office of Labor Senator Katy Gallagher told MWM “I have referred your email to Senator Gallagher’s Media Adviser who will be in touch with you if the Senator would like to make a comment”. Having heard nothing since then, it’s safe to assume that Senator Gallagher has no comment to make. However, Senator Gallagher has previously spoken on this issue in a Senatorial debate in 2017, during which she said:
“On parliamentary scrutiny, Labor has taken the long-held position … that, under our system of government, a decision to deploy members of the ADF, whether for combat operations, peacekeeping or disaster relief, should be a decision made by the executive government. We also believe that government should be as open and as transparent as possible through that process and provide to the parliament regular reports on Australia’s role. We also believe the process should be accompanied by appropriate parliamentary debate and time for appropriate consideration of all matters.”
Staff writers who have worked on one or more of our special investigative projects include Zacharias Zsumer (War Powers), Stephanie Tran, Tasha May and Luke Stacey.