Aussie Families First, Not the Taliban

Another session of Senate Estimates with the Department of (DFAT) and more questions into where your hard-earned tax dollars are actually going.

At a time when Australian families are struggling just to keep the lights on and put food on the table, this Labor government has poured more into Afghanistan ( $310 million since 2021) which includes a recent $50 million. Why are we sending millions to a country controlled by the Taliban? The department claims the money goes through the UN and “established partners” to help women and girls, rather than the regime. Yet let’s be real — the Taliban are violent oppressors who have been known to steal grain and manipulate aid.

The government admitted they’ve had to cancel programs in the past because of the exact risks I raised. Now, they say they rely on “independent reporting” to ensure the money reaches the right spot.

They need to prove to me — and to you — that this money isn’t just propping up a corrupt, illegitimate regime.

The Minister expressed that 22 million people in Afghanistan are in “dire need,” however I reminded her that our own constituents are doing it tough too and we have a responsibility to Australians first. I reminded them how we got here. We went into Iraq and Afghanistan based on the “weapons of mass destruction” lie from Bush, Blair, and Howard. We sent our brave young men and women into a conflict built on a vacuum of evidence, created a massive mess, and now we’re expected to keep paying for it indefinitely?

It boggles the mind that no one in this Parliament seems willing to hold the people who made those original, disastrous decisions accountable.

I will continue to demand the data and the evidence. We cannot have a government that makes “weighty decisions” to send our money overseas without absolute transparency.

– Senate Estimates | February 2026