True to her word, Tasmanian independent senator Jacqui Lambie has given the Australian Defence Force chief a right carpeting, in Senate Estimates.
The Tasmanian senator slammed General Angus Campbell for recommending medals be stripped from commanders despite no war crime findings in court.
General Campbell wrote to a number of veterans saying their honours for distinguished and conspicuous service would be stripped after a review of servicemen and commanders during the relevant time period.
A “review” which has been subject to no real test of evidence. Certainly not before a court of law, or a court-martial. On the say-so of anonymous accusations and a report cooked up by a desk-jockey careerist, Australian veterans have been subjected to collective punishment.
Senators used a hearing on Tuesday to question why medals would be stripped with no criminal wrongdoing having yet been proven in court and the report only recommending a review.
“We’re all accountable for the times of our command and for the circumstances of those commands,” the military chief told the hearing.
“It’s not a criminal process or an indication of criminal liability but rather a commander’s accountability for the performance of their command.”
Except, as it just happened, Campbell himself. By a curious coincidence, the top commander in Afghanistan investigated himself and, lo and behold, found that everyone else was to blame, while he was as innocent as a lamb.
Senator Lambie hit back at the general, saying: “You were cleared and the rest were hung out to dry.”
“Where is your command accountability?” she said […]
But he was also forced to justify why he oversaw a review that included himself.
General Campbell said he felt he could mitigate any conflict of interest because he had read the full Brereton report, which found credible evidence of war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Yet, at the same time Campbell excused himself of any wrongdoing, he rushed to mete out punishment well above what even the Brereton report recommended.
General Campbell was also forced to defend why he made the recommendation to strip others of their medals when the Brereton report only recommended the decorations of commanders “be reviewed”.
Lambie, to her credit, was having none of such bullshit.
She also chastised the defence department for being more concerned about releasing the names of 24 people whose medals could be stripped than stopping the names and faces of those accused of war crimes from being made public.
The senator said it could cause harm to their families and endanger them if they end up in jail ahead of their hearings due to terrorist cells that operate behind bars.
“You’re happy to stand there and do nothing about those boys with their faces out there that have been accused of war crimes,” she said.
As long as everyone else is falling on his sword, Campbell seems happy to keep peddling his own career. Especially now that he’s got a government behind him with just as much disdain for front-line soldiers.
The chief’s recommendation is being considered by Defence Minister Richard Marles.
A similar push in 2021 was blocked by then defence minister Peter Dutton who said only those convicted of war crimes would lose their honours.
MSN
Spot the difference.
