Australia is already the second largest military contributor to the campaign against ISIL in the US-led coalition, Julie Bishop said in a doorstop interview on December 3.
Ms Bishop's claim is overstated. Australia's contribution to the training mission in Iraq of 380 personnel is indeed the second largest after the US, but there is more in the theatre than just training personnel. The re-deployment of French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle into the conflict in November pushed the number of French aircraft involved over 40, outnumbering Australia's aircraft contribution five to one. The French carrier has 3,500 personnel on board to support operations, whilst Australia has only 400 personnel assigned to its Air Task Group, although Australia also has around 600 personnel at Al Minhad who may be important to the mission but have not been counted as part of the total. Furthermore, air sorties and strikes are difficult to compare due to the ambiguous nature of the wording used by different countries, as well as different reporting dates. Whilst Australia has been and still is making a substantial contribution to the US-led coalition, experts contacted by Fact Check agree that France has now overtaken Australia, which puts Australia third at best.
Fact check: Is Australia's military contribution to the fight against Islamic State the second largest?
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