http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/adf/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/military-superannuation-pensions-need-protection/ The Deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, spoke at the National Press Club, Canberra, on Monday – the topic, The Rising Influence of Vested Interests in Australia. In a supporting essay Mr Swan wrote: “We’ve always prided ourselves on being a nation that’s more equal than most – a place where, if you work hard, you can create a better life for yourself and your family.”  Members and retirees of the Australian Defence Force champion this principle. The trouble is the veterans have had with successive governments is that they’ve not been fair regarding the indexation of their superannuation. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/military-superannuation-pensions-need-protection/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/military-superannuation-pensions-need-protection/#item7961 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stephen-smith-the-minister-in-a-minefield/ It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stephen-smith-the-minister-in-a-minefield/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stephen-smith-the-minister-in-a-minefield/#item7951 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/freedom-belongs-to-nations-willing-to-fund-it/ In the latter part of 2011 previously unpublished data from the ANU’s 2010 Australian Election Study produced some fascinating reading on the subject of trust. The study revealed that the public trusted police more than the banks and the public service more than trade unions. Unsurprisingly the most trusted group was the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with a staggering 91 per cent of Australians having a high degree of confidence in them. This result is not unexpected given Australia operates arguably the most effective small military in the world. A military capable of conducting high level military operations in Afghanistan while simultaneously continuing our force protection and monitoring roles in Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands whilst also providing personnel to numerous other international peace related missions. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/freedom-belongs-to-nations-willing-to-fund-it/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/freedom-belongs-to-nations-willing-to-fund-it/#item7749 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/As-we-remember-our-fallen-we-forget-why-we-went-to-war/ It’s Remembrance Day. And this year, we have more to remember than ever. Ashley Birt, 22. Bryce Duffy, 26. Luke Gavin, 29. Rowan Robinson, 23. Todd Langley, 35. They’re all diggers killed in Afghanistan, and that’s just since June. While we’re remembering them though, we need to jog our memories a little further. Because over the course of this Very Long War in Afghanistan, there’s a lot that we’ve forgotten. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/As-we-remember-our-fallen-we-forget-why-we-went-to-war/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/As-we-remember-our-fallen-we-forget-why-we-went-to-war/#item7124 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/another-rogue-afghan-soldier-not-proof-of-sleeper-insurgency/ The latest shooting of three Australian and two Afghan soldiers by a disgruntled Afghan comrade will intensify calls for our 1550 troops to be withdrawn immediately. Details of the incident are sketchy, but given that the shooter escaped in a vehicle it is safe to assume that he was not a jihadist fanatic on a one-way suicide mission. That was certainly not the case 10 days ago when an Afghan called Darwish opened fire at close range at Forward Operating Base Pacemaker in northern Kandahar Province killing Captain Bryce Duffy, 26, Corporal Ashley Birt, 22, and Lance Corporal Luke Gavin, 27. Darwish had shaved and cleansed his body and dressed in white clothing to prepare for his journey into the next life following his murderous mission. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/another-rogue-afghan-soldier-not-proof-of-sleeper-insurgency/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/another-rogue-afghan-soldier-not-proof-of-sleeper-insurgency/#item7111 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Defences-head-is-in-the-sand-and-I-dont-mean-Afghanistan/ Claims of abuse with the ADF have emerged again. Community concern with a Defence culture has again been reignited; the continuing fallout of the ADFA Skype Affair and other occurrences like the HMAS Success and Cerberus sex incidents. The more things change the more they stay the same. There comes a point when we must call a spade a spade and make a clean sweep. These may be clichés but I am in keeping with tradition. In 1983 Major General Coates, the commandant of RMC, explained to the Melbourne Sun that bastardisation at the college was not of a ‘general or systemic’ nature. Major General Coates assured us, civil society, that he was ‘certain’ of this. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Defences-head-is-in-the-sand-and-I-dont-mean-Afghanistan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Defences-head-is-in-the-sand-and-I-dont-mean-Afghanistan/#item6087 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/afghanistan-we-honour-the-fallen-by-staying-the-course/ As another Australian family endures the soul-destroying grief of the loss of a young son in Afghanistan - the fourth in a week -  the debate about the nation’s role in the campaign has shifted into fraught territory. Some surveys show that the majority of Australians want the troops to be brought home immediately. Our political leaders say we must hold our nerve and harden our resolve for more losses in the weeks ahead. Given that only two of the four latest casualties, Sgt Brett Wood and special-forces combat engineer Rowan Jaie Robinson, were killed in action fighting the Taliban the bipartisan position is the right one for a host of reasons.  penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/afghanistan-we-honour-the-fallen-by-staying-the-course/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/afghanistan-we-honour-the-fallen-by-staying-the-course/#item6030 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/defence-battling-the-enemy-within/ Forget Iraq, Afghanistan and any other theatres of battle Australia has been involved in recent years. The Australian Defence Force is in the middle of a battle of its own - and the enemy is within. The latest flashpoint started just over a week ago after revelations that a young female cadet at the Australian Defence Force Academy was allegedly secretly filmed having consensual sex with a male counterpart, and that he had allegedly broadcast the tryst to other soldiers via webcam. Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s forthright and outspoken condemnation of the way the incident was handled and military culture in general blew the lid off a simmering internal dispute over incidences of bastardisation, bullying and the gender divide, and opened the wider question of whether women should be allowed to fight on the front-line. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/defence-battling-the-enemy-within/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/defence-battling-the-enemy-within/#item5648 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/inside-adfa-a-frat-house-with-guns/ In 2006 I spent a couple of days at the Australian Defence Force Academy. I inspected its organised dormitories (where male and female cadets shared the same buildings - but separate rooms). It’s like an upmarket youth hostel with communal kitchen and bathrooms at the end of each hallway. While there, I fired weapons, ate in the mess and spoke to staff including officers, professors and historians.  It’s an impressive place.  ADFA at first glance looks like a tidy university, but walk into the bookshop and titles like Knife Fighting Techniques by inmates at Folsom Prison remind you this is a different world. This is a frat house with guns. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/inside-adfa-a-frat-house-with-guns/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/inside-adfa-a-frat-house-with-guns/#item5623 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/consider-this-before-you-send-women-to-the-frontline/ In the wake of the latest scandal to hit Defence, Defence Minister Stephen Smith has announced six inquiries, and says the Government will fasttrack changes so women can fight in all the most dangerous frontline positions. The Punch spoke to Australian Defence Association executive director Neil James about the move. Q. Do you think women should be on the front line? A. We support the fact that women in the Australian Defence Force serve on the front line and in combat (to the extent they currently can)... we also support the current scientific study into expanding the range of roles for women on the front line. We support evidence-based decisions - not emotive sloganeering. This topic comes up every six to eight months and the discussion is never intellectually robust. Too many people enter it from an ideological viewpoint or they’re not across the facts. This is clearly a diversion by the minister - to divert attention from the fact none of the inquiries he’s called will investigate his apparent abuse of ministerial authority. He’s announced six reviews but none of them will include an investigation of him. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/consider-this-before-you-send-women-to-the-frontline/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/consider-this-before-you-send-women-to-the-frontline/#item5614 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 It’s a pretty special set of circumstances when a tax-payer-funded body releases a series of reviews exposing decades of cultural problems, including 775 allegations of sexual assault, and the Minister is the one facing questions over why he won’t apologise for standing down one of the people in charge. Last night on the ABC’s 7.30 Defence Minister Stephen Smith was asked in numerous ways why he wouldn’t apologise to Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer, who has been reinstated this week, 11 months after being stood down over the so called “Skype” scandal. When the scandal broke, involving an 18-year-old woman cadet being filmed without her consent having sex, and the vision broadcast via the internet to some of her classmates, Smith went in pretty hard and fast.