Defence Force
Australia has always had a special place in our memory for our peacekeepers: an unmarked, shadowy alcove – near a storage area – in an obscure section of the Australian War Memorial.
The book where Australia honours those who have died while trying to prevent war has only recently been made available to the public. For years it was locked away in a cabinet. Out of sight, out of mind, perhaps.
Those who die in battle absolutely deserve the high recognition they receive. But it’s a strange aspect of our culture that we almost ignore those who work in our name to promote international peace and security; to prevent more Australians being sent into battle.
Continue reading "It’s high time we publicly honour our peacekeepers" »
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.
Continue reading "Stephen Smith, the Minister in a minefield" »
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RonaldR says:
All Australian populations should get up and apologies to the Australian people for putting their party’s before the good of Australia especially the great pretender Abbott. Read more »
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Mel says:
Matt, I applaud your bravery for ” outing” the elephant in the room. You are correct, each consenting party breached the rules of the DFDA, by engaging in the sex in the first place. Defence has those rules in place to maintain order and for the protection of these kids… Read more »
“The willingness of future generations to serve in our military will be directly dependent upon how we have treated those who have served in the past.” George Washington.
So the politicians have seen fit to grant themselves another pay rise. No, sorry, the Federal Remuneration Tribunal has granted them a pay rise and they have accepted its ruling. Changing the legislation to say no is apparently not an option.
What many may not realise is that politician pay rises benefit not just current politicians, but all qualifying pre-2004 retired politicians. If those retired politicians are survived by their spouse this pay rise also goes to them.
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Derek Wilkinson ex WOFFCOMMS RAAF says:
“Afghan Vet” My understanding is that “An 18 year old who served 20 years is on pension at 38” is no longer an option. I think you will find that this member would have to mark time until age 60 before his/her retirement pay commences. And while waiting, only about… Read more »
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Derek Wilkinson ex WOFFCOMMS says:
Sadly, quite a few of comments in this forum, are denigrating to serving and retired servicemen and women. For you denigrators, it should be born in mind that as per the title “Defence Force”, the main purpose is exactly that - DEFENCE FORCE.. Not every military member is able to… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "Afghanistan: We honour the fallen by staying the course" »
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Zabrina says:
And I thought I was the sensible one. Thanks for settnig me straight. Read more »
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Dan says:
Well said,. Read more »
“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”
“Ragheads’‘, “dune coons’‘, “sand niggaz’’ and “smelly locals’‘. Last night we were exposed to ADF soldiers with experience in Afghanistan acting in prejudicial, discriminatory, racist ways. That is what we call it in the civilian world.
A group of soldiers, some who have served overseas in contemporary conflicts, and apparently some who are serving, have allegedly posted their discontent on the social networking site Facebook. They have expressed their disdain, their hatred of the Afghanis, their racist and pejorative perspective of those they are charged to ‘liberate’ and their insubordination to their boss, Lieutenant General Gillespie.
Continue reading "Soldiers’ comments racist, disgusting, embarrassing" »
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gbnreouow says:
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Bill says:
I agree. Go “over there” do your job which by the way for an Infantryman is to seek out and close with the enemy,to KILL or capture him to seize and to hold ground by day or night regardless of season weather or terrain….You Mr Wadham are an ex Infantryman… Read more »
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.
Continue reading "The loss of brave young men is becoming hard to justify" »
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Roger says:
@Marilyn Sheperd If we wanted the pipeline, we’d have ignored the country and just mount patrols along the oil lines. Armed guards, told to shoot on sight any unauthorised personnel. But it isn’t all about the pipeline. I’m sure somewhere, someone’s making money of off the oil. But Aus didn’t… Read more »
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Ruth Thurts says:
YES it is even more HORRIBLY unfair to families of Defence Members killed in the name of Australia. There is a small group of defence families this is extremely difficult for, those families of members recruited from Overseas Defence Forces. The ADF made sure that legislation allows them to deploy… Read more »
The intonation is crucial.
Australians use the phrase in two quite different ways, and the clue to whether what Mr Abbott said in Afghanistan was disrespectful or not lies in the modulation of his voice.
Did he say ‘shit happens’, meaning ‘get over it, suck it up, spilt milk’? Or did he say ‘shit happens’, meaning ‘nothing could have been done, it was fate, or God’s will.’
Continue reading "Did Abbott say ‘shit happens’, or ‘shit happens’?" »
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Phil says:
John, You are utterly full of it. You have absolutely no idea and think you can force the rest of Australia to think you are right because you are loud about it. MR Abbot has said nothing wrong and trying to imply that he couldn’t care less about soldiers is… Read more »
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John B says:
@Jara. Tony Abbott’s “big problem with rage” ? Unlike Mark Latham breaking a taxi driver’s arm, Abbott didn’t attack Mark Riley. Unlike Mark Latham’s physical intimidation of John Howard with “that” handshake, Abbott didn’t intimidate Riley. Tony Abbott was falsely accused of the most heartless lack of sympathy for a… Read more »
In the aftermath of the Brisbane floods Kevin Rudd cast himself in the role of volunteer-in-chief, wading through the waters in his uniform of rolled up chinos and sodden business shirt. It’s easy to be cynical, I guess.
The real volunteers, of course, sought no recognition for their work. Over 22,000 of them, ably commanded by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, rolled though Brisbane to lend a hand.
These volunteers are a testament to the Australian spirit of generosity and mateship. But Kevin Rudd could still do something genuinely useful to help the cause of volunteering.
Continue reading "AUSCORPS: Time for an official army of volunteers" »
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don says:
maybe we should form a “national gaurd” of volunteers that can be trained like the army reserves in basic first aid, traffic management, tree felling/clearing, basic home handyperson etc skills. Upkeep these skills say one day every month or two and then mobilise whenever there is a national emergency/catastrophy Read more »
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Rod says:
Students would be gaining financially by this deed of ‘volunteering’ to pay of their HECS debt, therefore they aren’t really volunteers. Read more »
The flooding in Pakistan was an unavoidable natural disaster. The measures we take now will decide if we can avoid an ongoing humanitarian disaster.
Last Thursday I visited Pakistan to inspect the flood damage and the Australian response in Kot Addu, near Multan in the Southern Punjab.
The UN High-Level Meeting on Pakistan today met to discuss the adequacy, or inadequacy, of the international response. This meeting has one challenge – to prevent a natural disaster becoming a humanitarian calamity that could have been avoided.
Continue reading "What I saw in Pakistan, and why the world must help" »
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K King says:
Fran Fran Fran, Pakistani cabbies aren’t as wealthy and fortunate as some of us snobs. They, like any other cabbies from other ethnicities are deservedly earning their hard earned dollar, exposing themselves to dangers and working the odd hours while you and me sleep in our warm and cozy beds.… Read more »
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Austin 3:16 says:
Hey Denny, yeah Australia’s debt is about 6% of our income. Unlike Tony Abbott who’s personal debt is several times his income. Maybe we should also start a fund to help him out, what do you reckon? Read more »
If it’s possible that anything positive could come out of the Fort Hood shootings in the United States last week let’s hope it raises the much maligned profile of mental health in the armed forces.
One third of American troops return home from Iraq suffering from some form of mental health issue.
High divorce rates and domestic violence are also increasingly common.
Continue reading "Lesson from Fort Hood: our troops need more care" »
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Sam says:
Listen to me, the crazy Arab. “Jihad” means “struggle”. It can be an inner struggle to understand the world or to change the world or to understand God’s plan in the context of current event (these are only examples). It (jihad)could also take the form of political struggle, or violent… Read more »
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Simon says:
Dan I will paste the evidence we have from my comment above (please read it this time as I dopn;t want to copy and paste it again) - Nidal - shouted “Allah akbar’ while doing the killings attended an extremist mosque which was also attended by two of the September… Read more »
It is safe to assume that Australia has the only high court in the world to have an important case of constitutional and military law decided over an incident of “teabagging.”
Following the High Court’s decision in Lane v Morrison on the illegitimacy of the Australian Military Court, the practice of “teabagging” will be forever etched in the legal lexicon of this country.
While Big Brother’s turkeyslapping incident introduced us to genital based attempts at humour taking hold of the national agenda, turkeyslapping was only brought up in Parliament while teabagging made it all the way to the High Court - and won.
Continue reading "The day teabagging dipped its way into legal history" »
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Peter from Sydney says:
The thing was a close call. French CJ almost did not give it a run. Now they have to wake up to the hangover they have created for themselves, and move ever so slightly, to the position that any Court constituted by one Officer, appointed no matter how by a… Read more »
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Jack Tar says:
I’ve been on the wrong end of the old Kangaroo Court a few times myself and know firsthand that a lot of what goes on is hardly justice in any sense of the word. 4 seperate charges where all evidence showed innocent. And yet still charged at the end of… Read more »
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