Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the closure of the Afghanistan Inquiry report, which serves as a bookend for a press conference that started on 19 November 2020 by the Chief of the Defence Force. I speak as someone who had the privilege of leading a commando platoon in combat in Afghanistan. Like the shadow Minister for Defence, who lead a troop in Afghanistan—that is an honour that we will both take with us for the rest of our lives. Nothing will ever compete with that. As a commander, you are judged by the successes and failures of the team you lead. As a commander, you cannot bask in the glory of your soldiers' bravery and wash your hands when things go wrong. We are a democracy, and we are willing to risk and, if needed, lose our lives to defend that idea. But being a democracy means we hold ourselves to account to the highest standards. In doing so, I reject the idea that everything that happens in war stays in war. That is when we find out who we really are. And I reject the notion that holding ourselves to account makes us weaker. It makes us stronger. There is a criminal process. There is an administrative process. But there's also a moral process. And some commanders we can ask, 'Was that leadership distinguished?' If it wasn't, those medals should be returned, and any senior officer can hand their metal back any time.

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