Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Minister for Defence (Senator Wong) to a question without notice I asked today relating to defence personnel.

At the start of this month the Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Campbell, gave a group of special forces officers 28 days to explain why their service should be still considered distinguished and worthy of the medal they were awarded for their achievements within the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan. The majority of these officers received their awards for their leadership in action on foreign ground, facing the enemy, leading their men in combat. We have only heard about this because many of these officers have reached out, needing help to bring this to the public's attention.

The CDF himself has apparently asked some of these men to voluntarily hand back their awards. If they don't, he's said he will seek a mechanism to do so through the Governor-General, through the force of threat. This is the same Chief of the Defence Force who, two years ago, off the back of the Brereton report, called to remove the Meritorious Unit Citation from every single special forces person, including their support staff. The Chief of the Defence Force is making these decisions and taking actions while he happily continues to wear his own Distinguished Service Cross. His citation reads that it was awarded 'for distinguished command and leadership in action as Commander Joint Task Force 633', when he was the general responsible for all Australian troops deployed to the Middle East, including Afghanistan—sitting comfortably in his office outside Dubai for the majority of those two years, mind you.

I tell you what, mate, it's time to cough up your own award first, buddy. How about you start showing some leadership? If I could see some leadership from you—just a little bit—before you're just about gone and disposed of. Stop passing the buck down here. Stop passing it down to the diggers, mate. Show some leadership. Pass yours in first. Let's see what you've got.

This was explained to me by one of the special forces officer friends as the exact command responsibility the Chief of the Defence Force is citing as a reason why the other, lower-ranking special forces officers should hand back their awards. The Chief of the Defence Force has lost the support of the majority of the military—perhaps not so much his little group of senior officers that still surround him, waiting for their day of promotion, and all the brass up in his headquarters, but he has lost the support of most of the military. That is where we're at today.

There is no support from junior ranks whatsoever. These are the ones that are doing the hard yards on the ground, the ones actually out on missions, winning their awards in action, in combat. That's who they are. The discharge rates from the ADF are at an all-time high. Don't even talk to me about retention rates—they're finished. Recruitment is struggling at best. Why would anybody want to join any organisation where this type of treatment can go unchecked against those who are subordinate in rank and restricted through strict policies of being unable to reach out of the system otherwise?

I say enough is enough. We are in Australia, where we abide by the rule of law and give people a fair go. We saw a spike in veteran suicide and damage to our strategic reputation under the same man who has been given an extended tenure for two years. What planet is Minister Richard Marles living on? That's your first and last mistake, I reckon, Minister. I sincerely do. Any respect you hoped to get out of this is already gone, Minister Marles. You're finished—gone. The CDF has proven that these decisions should not be left to him, and I am calling for his actions to be immediately brought before the Senate committee on defence and foreign affairs in order to appropriately ensure the sensitive and strategic nature of these issues is properly and publicly met. One of the reasons we have a royal commission into the suicides going on is because of that leadership. He has been part of that leadership for many years, yet none of you in here, the majors on either side, have had the guts to dispose of him.

We have some serious issues going on in our military. Watch the royal commission. It's in front of our faces. When we have troops out there and most of them have their morale down and out, that puts a strain on our national security. That should be a red-hot alert for all of us in here. It is time for a leadership change in the military. Before the royal commission tells you, I will: Angus Campbell has to go.

Question agreed to.