Thread by @stephendziedzic

Back on this. We're once again in "constantly" land. Not only was @dfat "constantly" monitoring the security situation in Kabul, officials were also "constantly" assessing likely increase in applications from translators etc as Taliban approached Kabul. Not hugely specific 1/

https://twitter.com/stephendziedzic/status/1447366683522265091

This is more interesting and specific. The CDF says in the months leading up to the fall of Kabul the number of applications from local engaged staff and translators had actually fallen off (of course there was a surge later, as the Taliban approached the gates) 2/

How many Australian citizens/visa holders remain stranded in Afghanistan? DFAT says its "best estimate" is that 129 Australian citizens and 157 permanent residents (who have registered/requested assistance from the Australian Govt) remain in Afghanistan (as of 1 October) 3/

How many Australian visa holders remain stuck in Afghanistan? Home Affairs won't (or can't) really answer - they simply say there are thousands of Afghans "across many countries and holding many visas" hoping to come to Australia 4/

Gosh. In the last seven weeks or so there have been some 26 thousand applications made to the Australian Govt from Afghans seeking protection or humanitarian visas. Many have family so it could be around 100 000 people all up 5/

The CDF agrees that the Taliban were "surprised" by the speed of their victory - "I don’t think it was what they were expecting" (There's quite a bit of reporting on the ground supporting this suggestion) 6/

Senior defence official Hugh Jeffrey says the speed of the Taliban victory might be explained by a sense of inevitability in Afghanistan. There was a feeling that the Taliban would eventually take control and "therefore you may as well not fight it." Events cascaded quickly 7/

Eric Abetz asks about the efforts of the Defence and @dfat evacuation team. What was the operating environment and how much sleep were they getting? Daniel Sloper from @dfat estimates most team members slept between 2-4 hours a night. Praises their calm under enormous pressure 8/