Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Urquhart, move:

That—

(1) The Senate notes that:

(a) in July 2019, the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal recommended to the Minister for Defence Personnel that the Minister recommend to the Sovereign that Ordinary Seaman Edward 'Teddy' Sheean be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross of Australia for the most conspicuous gallantry and a pre-eminent act of valour in the presence of the enemy during a Japanese aerial attack on the HMAS Armidale in the Timor Sea on 1 December 1942;

(b) it is understood that the Minister for Defence Personnel subsequently communicated to the Minister for Defence that he was supportive of the Tribunal's recommendation for the award to be granted; and

(c) the independent, unanimous and expert recommendation was overruled.

(2) There be laid on the table by the Minister representing the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, by 2.00pm on 24 June 2020, all documented correspondence between the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Defence relating to the Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal's consideration of the matter of posthumous awarding of a Victoria Cross of Australia for Edward Sheean, created between 22 July 2019 and 11 June 2020.