We really have become an international laughing-stock, haven’t we? The Australian fighting forces used to be among the most highly regarded in the world. In WWI, the Anzacs were the shock troops of the Western Front. Even in Afghanistan, the reputation of the ADF, especially its SAS, was such that forces such as the US military were keen to study its training methods.
One very much doubts they would be so keen any more.
Through a combination of top-heavy bureaucracy and government meddling, the ADF is fast becoming a woke joke. We’ve had the unedifying sight of the ADF chief prancing around in high heels and desk-bound commanders wringing their hands over a ‘warrior culture’ among our, well, warriors. Our highest-decorated soldiers have had their reputations dragged through the mud with unfounded allegations of ‘war crimes’.
At the same time, the ADF is over-burdened with over-paid senior officers whose abilities don’t seem to stretch much beyond pettifogging bureaucracy. We have six times as many brass than the US or UK militaries. Including, for some bizarre reason, official ‘Indigenous Elders’. The numbers of senior officers has doubled, even as recruitment in the ranks plummets. The army now has five times as many lieutenant generals (three stars) as it did in Vietnam, when it had thousands more regular soldiers than today, and twice as many major generals (two stars). Senior officers are paid three to four times as much as their US and UK counterparts, while commanding 11 times fewer personnel.
This isn’t a serious military: it’s a special school for woke public servants playing dress ups.
And writing cookbooks.
Yes, you read that right: cookbooks.
The Defence’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group, Defence’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group, is supposed to be establising a $20 billion-plus domestic missile manufacturing industry. The only thing they’ve produced, though, is a recipe book to celebrate Harmony Week earlier this year.
“In line with this year’s theme of ‘Everyone Belongs’, this book serves as a reminder that every member of GWEO group is valued as we work together towards our shared purpose,” he says in the book’s foreword.
“I encourage each of you to continue to embrace our shared values and create an environment where everyone truly belongs.”
He has got to be kidding, surely?
Sadly, no.
The group’s staff contributed their favourite recipes, including a Chinese-inspired “Mystery meat stir fry”, and a “Loaded potato soup”.
[Group head Air Marshal Leon Phillips], a keen amateur gourmet, shares his recipe for Spaghetti ai gamberi, urging his subordinates to “pair this meal with great company and a lovely dry riesling”.
Well, that’s guaranteed to strike fear into an enemy’s heart, surely.
They’ll die laughing.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has ordered sweeping reforms to his department, warning “everything is on the table” amid tensions over budget blowouts and delays in getting new weapons and equipment into service.
The Australian revealed this week that up to 25 star-ranked Australian Defence Force officers could be drummed out, while 20 to 40 public service executive positions could be cut […]
The bureaucratic shake-up would leave Phillips fighting for his job, while CASG head Chris Deeble could also be vulnerable.
It’ll be wooden spoons and soup ladles at 20 paces.
Eyebrows were also raised in defence circles this week at a LinkedIn post by GWEO deputy head Dan Fankhauser on an “unforgettable” three weeks he spent attending an Oxford University advanced manufacturing leadership program.
“It was an immense privilege to spend three weeks with my amazing peers from around the globe who made the Summer 2025 cohort so memorable,” he said.
At this rate, the ADF’s most senior decorations will be a toy chef’s hat and a bottle of sunscreen lotion.
