http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/defence/ 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 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +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/alls-not-fair-in-war/ In the film Balibo, five journalists paint an Australian flag and the word ‘Australia’ on the wall of their ‘safe’ house. They are then coldly executed by the invading Indonesians. They believed – naively, in retrospect - that their very Australianness and their civilian status as journalists would save them. Their brutal slaying outrages us, offends our sense of fairness – and shows that the concept of fairness is an odd sort of idea to have in the midst of carnage. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/alls-not-fair-in-war/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/alls-not-fair-in-war/#item7539 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bob-and-tonys-awkward-night-with-obama/ There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bob-and-tonys-awkward-night-with-obama/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bob-and-tonys-awkward-night-with-obama/#item7173 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. 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. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) 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 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/everybody-needs-good-neighbours/ Another day brings another Defence scandal, prompting a colleague of mine to quip that the people of Inverbrackie and Woodside are probably grateful now there are refugees in the housing estate rather than military personnel. He said it with a smile, but serious intent. The Adelaide Hills’ Inverbrackie Detention Centre has not been without its own scandals since it became home to families from Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq. First there was the Fruit Picking Incident. About six young asylum seekers scaled a fence - an internal fence, mind, they never got as far as the outside world - to pick fruit. They spent at least ten minutes picking cherry plums. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/everybody-needs-good-neighbours/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/everybody-needs-good-neighbours/#item5653 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. 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. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) 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 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/skirmish-with-defence-a-long-time-coming/ The problem with Defence has been that nobody gets sacked. Pushed sideways with a higher salary and rank maybe, but never taken out of a job as a punishment for failure. That is the major significance of what has happened under Defence Minister Stephen Smith. Australian Defence Academy Commandant Bruce Kafer has been temporarily stood down as a consequence of the Skype sex scandal. Not many senior military figures have had to publicly lose face because of mismanagement. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/skirmish-with-defence-a-long-time-coming/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/skirmish-with-defence-a-long-time-coming/#item5602 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-defence-ever-stop-defending-the-indefensible/ The reputation of the defence force has once again been tarnished by its personnel behaving badly. A defence force cadet has allegedly filmed himself having sex with another cadet and broadcasting it to his peers in an adjacent room. The 18-year-old female RAAF cadet spoke of her sense of betrayal and abuse on Tuesday as the federal police and Defence investigators launched an investigation. She alleges she had consensual sex with the fellow cadet who was broadcasting their moment of intimacy by webcam to his mates in a separate room. UPDATE: Defence Minister Stephen Smith said this afternoon that the ADF will not tolerate conduct that was sexist, vilified women or was indecent or uncivilised. He also said it was possible the female cadet could face disciplinary action. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-defence-ever-stop-defending-the-indefensible/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-defence-ever-stop-defending-the-indefensible/#item5567 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-loss-of-brave-young-men-is-becoming-hard-to-justify/ Jamie Larcombe is the fifth Australian Army combat engineer to be killed in action in Afghanistan. He is also the first to be shot during a firefight rather than blown up by an insurgent’s improvised explosive device (IED). The engineers are a tight-knit and dedicated group of soldiers who bring a raft of skills and a great deal of courage to the fight against the Taliban. The Darwin based 1st Combat Engineer Regiment has now lost two of its best within a fortnight following the death of Corporal Richard Atkinson at the hands of an enemy bomb maker. In addition to the five KIA they have also suffered much higher rates of injury as they take the lead role whenever a patrol leaves the security of an operating base. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-loss-of-brave-young-men-is-becoming-hard-to-justify/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-loss-of-brave-young-men-is-becoming-hard-to-justify/#item5186 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Afghanistan-is-one-of-many-challenges-for-2011/ Afghanistan, an uncertain world, and regional instability will make 2011 a challenging year for the Australian Defence Force. The campaign in Afghanistan will dominate the military landscape this year as Australia and the other 44 nations involved in the International Assistance Force (ISAF) struggle to develop a workable exit strategy for the eight-year conflict. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has flagged a further decade-long involvement for Australian troops, but such a commitment will become increasingly difficult to justify as casualties mount during the coming fighting season. Pressure will build for a complete withdrawal once the training role is complete in Oruzgan Province (about 2014) where most of the 1550 Australians are working. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Afghanistan-is-one-of-many-challenges-for-2011/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Afghanistan-is-one-of-many-challenges-for-2011/#item4847 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-to-listen-to-those-on-the-ground-in-afghanistan/ The ongoing criticism of the Australian Defence Force’s deployed resources in Afghanistan, firstly by the 6 RAR Digger’s email and now also by a senior soldier in Townsville and a recently returned Officer, raise the real issue of the Government’s commitment to the fight. Has the Government deployed every possible resource needed to achieve the mission? In response to that now widely publicised email, Defence stated that the Commander on the ground at Deh Rawood had a range of direct and indirect fire assets at his disposal. The Commander chose to use some of those assets and others he did not, for a variety of reasons such as airspace deconfliction. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-to-listen-to-those-on-the-ground-in-afghanistan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-to-listen-to-those-on-the-ground-in-afghanistan/#item4138 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 There were two people at Wednesday’s state dinner for US President Barack Obama at Parliament House who seemed a bit out of sorts. The first was the man who until recently had looked like our de facto prime minister, Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. The second was our alternative prime minister, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who in the past fortnight has gone from being a dead-cert for PM to being the subject of criticism from conservatives about an election strategy based more on opposing things than proposing things. As President Obama stood at the end of Parliament’s Great Hall in front of that remarkable tapestry of the Australian bush landscape, hand on his heart as The Star Spangled Banner played, Bob Brown grudgingly lifted himself from his seat to join in the standing ovation. Brown, the man who had shouted across the parliamentary chamber at Bill Clinton on his 1997 Australian visit, was up on his pegs and deferring to the Leader of the Free World, a man who represents pretty much everything Brown loathes. The symbolism of it was one thing. Of more interest is the enormous and important policy shifts in defence and regional security which Prime Minister Gillard and President Obama have presided over this past fortnight which have helped Labor put some long-overdue distance between itself and its partner in power.