The Senate vote was non-binding, but senators said it reflected deep community division over the war.
Opposition Leader Simon Crean, who tonight will make a televised speech to the nation, said it was a sad and tragic day for Australia. "We are now involved in a conflict that we should never have been in, and we are going to become a target as a consequence of it," he told the National Press Club.
"This is a reckless, dangerous act, and the Prime Minister should be hanging his head in shame as a result of that."
Mr Crean said Mr Howard had made Australia an even greater terrorist target. Mr Crean said his call for the troops to come home was like those made by former Labor leaders John Curtin, who defied Winston Churchill to have forces return from the Middle East in 1942 to defend Australia from the Japanese, and Gough Whitlam, who brought Australian troops home from Vietnam.
Soon after the first bombs hit Baghdad, Mr Howard announced to a rowdy House of Representatives at 2pm that Australian troops had begun combat against Iraq.
His announcement sparked angry exchanges. Labor MPs yelled: "Shame." Victorian Labor frontbencher Gavan O'Connor shouted: "You've all got blood on your hands now."
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer accused Mr Crean of "behaving like a child in a primary school on a major international issue".
The House of Representatives voted 80-63, along party lines, to support Mr Howard's resolution backing war to disarm Iraq. But the Senate instead passed a historic motion 37-32 to condemn the war and call for the immediate return of Australian troops. The motion was supported by Labor, the Democrats, Greens and independents Meg Lees and Brian Harradine.
Cabinet's national security committee will meet this morning.
http://theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/20/1047749880719.html
Creans speech...
SPECIAL COVERAGE
Crean responds
Opposition Leader Simon Crean responds to the PM's address to the nation. (RealVideo)
FORUM War zone Have your say about war against Iraq. http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/default.htm
