2024




Updates in 2024
13th April 2024The ADF, Angus Campbell, threw them under the bus
4th March 2024Our disappointing military is disappointed
16th February 2024And this is news?
14th February 2024"I know Nothing ..!"
28th January 2024More Australians may be selected to die

The CDF, Angus Campbell accused of throwing Australian service personel "under the bus"
Chris Kenny
April, 13th 2024 - 1:05 pm


Sky News host Chris Kenny says Chief of
Australian Defence Force Angus
Campbell is a man who "threw the ADF
under the bus"..

"I talked about Angus Campbell" Mr Kenny said.

"a man who threw the ADF under the bus
in my view.

With those alleged war crimes
in Afghanistan, effectively a Taliban
Leadership there now.

"We have not had one conviction."


***************************

Military 'disappointed' in failures of justice system
By Tess Ikonomou
March, 4th 2024 - 1:05 pm


Australia's vice-chief of the defence force says he wasn't able to achieve all the reforms to the military justice system that were needed, and was "disappointed" about the poor experiences other personnel had.

Vice Admiral David Johnston told the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide on Monday, he was proud of the work that had been done to improve the system which had caused psychological harm to defence force members.

"I have not achieved all that I may have wished to been able to achieve," he said.

"It has been a function that I have respected, I recognise the importance of it."

Vice Admiral Johnston said the justice system was "critical" to the command function and performance of the military's units.

He agreed the royal commission had shed a light on weaknesses in the system, which were not previously known.

"I'm disappointed to hear that my experience and pride in being a member of the Australian Defence Force, and the system that I've experienced, is not a shared one by all of the people who have served our country," Vice Admiral Johnston said.

In his opening remarks of the royal commission's final public hearings block, Chair Nick Kaldas urged co-operation and accountability to address the issue.

"We are not the cause of the ADF's troubles. Our data analysis has confirmed that their greatest enemy lies within the ADF itself and its resistance to change," he said.

"It is apparent from the evidence we've uncovered that there are deep-rooted cultural and systemic challenges within the ADF and DVA (Department of Veterans' Affairs) which have had dire consequences."

Mr Kaldas said no more could the "siloed, fragmented and incremental approach to veteran support be tolerated".

"No longer can these systemic issues be denied, dismissed, diminished or deflected by those in the halls of power and positions of leadership," he said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles and other senior military leaders will give evidence at the hearings.

The last of the public hearings have started in Sydney and will wrap up at the end of March.

It will be the final chance for the inquiry to ask questions of senior Defence and government figures about evidence before its final report is handed down in September.

Australian Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell has already faced questioning at the royal commission. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie will appear at a later date.

The commission has previously expressed its frustration at the slow response from commonwealth agencies to requests for information, as well as claims of confidentiality, parliamentary privilege and public interest immunity.

Mr Kaldas said many of the people who came forward and told their story had expressed a "strong sense of disappointment and betrayal" at being let down by Defence.

"Some are angry or bitter, many are sad, others are shattered, but almost all want to help make it better," he said.

"They want the defence force to succeed. They don't want others to have the same experiences they had."

The final report was originally due in mid-June, but a three-month extension was granted.

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Open Arms1800 011 046


The first condition to be met, to prevent Discharge is"Proficiency", defined as Efficiency and Probity.
Falsifing Documents, including Efficiency, Performance, and Reports to superiors is in breach of the AIRN.
As is spreading lies about subordinates and their spouse.


***************************



Military investigating claims of officers boasting of sexual conquests in WhatsApp group
Mathew Knot
February, 15th 2024 - 11:29 am

Military police are investigating claims of sexually inappropriate behaviour by
senior defence force personnel with a senator airing claims that male officers
used WhatsApp to boast about their sexual conquests.

When asked about the so-called "Three-Ringed Wranglers" group Navy Chief
Vice Admiral Mark Hammond told National senator Bridget McKenzie the
matter was being taken "very seriously".


McKenzie raised the matter of the WhatsApp group while asking questions
about the removal about the Commanding Officer from a warship last year over claims
of Heavy Drinking while at sea.

"I understand that a separate allegation relating to that had been raised, I was
not aware, of any context nor do I seek to interfer with the ongoing officer
inquiry-which may or may not have come across this term," Hammond said

McKenzie asked: "So the allegation is that
this is a group of male officers in a WhatsApp
group boasting female conquests. Is that
right vice admiral?"

Hammond replied: "I havent heard it"
characterised like that, but I have heard it
refers to a group of ADF members and

McKenzie said she believed the phrase
"three ringed" referred to the fact the group's
members were all officers.




***************************
Defence chief unaware of commander's torture allegation

Story by Dominic Giannini
Wed, 14 February 2024 at 2:11 pm AEDT


Australia's Defence Force chief was unaware a Fijian officer who became a deputy commander of 3000 troops was alleged to have committed torture.

Colonel Penioni Naliva was appointed the deputy commander of the 7th Brigade in Brisbane as part of an effort to embed Pacific officers in the ADF.

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell admitted normal processes failed and he should have been made aware.

There was a review into how the allegations weren't detected, he said, but the colonel hasn't been stood down and was instead "working from home ... supporting his family in a fairly stressful circumstance".

"If you find any fault, that is with me," General Campbell told a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday.

"The process that we undertake was not as comprehensive as perhaps we all might have preferred.

"I have directed a review to strengthen the process."

A review of all embedded appointments is also being undertaken.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge questions defence officials during a parliamentary hearing. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)© Provided by AAP

Greens senator David Shoebridge lambasted General Campbell after he admitted he wasn't aware of allegations made against the colonel in a book by a former Fijian politician and a 2011 UN report from a special rapporteur.

Senator Shoebridge read an excerpt from the book in which a former Fijian politician alleged he was being beaten by a man he identified as Colonel Naliva before he tried to insert the end of a rifle into his anus.

General Campbell noted these were allegations and no official complaint had been made to authorities.

"Do you not acknowledge that this happened during a coup when political opponents were being beaten and tortured and that they're very unlikely to have trust in Fijian authorities to obtain justice?" the senator asked.

The colonel was recommended to Australian forces by the Fijian military and has been in the position since late January.

The ADF had been assured by the Fijian government the colonel had a clear police and national security clearance.

"When a person is residing in their own country, we have to look to the authorities of that country to make a statement as to whether or not they have had a police or criminal record," department official Susan Bodell told the hearing.

"Yes, it was a gap of information that unfortunately was not put to the (chief of the defence force) in the appointment process. This is an error on our part which we are looking to remedy."
******************************
Australia must consider bringing back conscription as 'all-out war' with Russia looms, expert says

Australia must consider reintroducing conscription to boost its troop numbers in the face of a looming 'all-out war' with Russia an expert says.

Frank Chung
January 28th 2024

Rapidly rising global tensions in eastern Europe and the Middle East threaten to "drag Australia into an orbit of an open confrontation" Dr Alexey Muraviev, Associate Professor of National Security and Strategic Studies at Curtin University, said.

He added it may be "time for Australia to consider another uncomfortable subject - the return of national service".

"Back in 1972, Labor under Gough Whitlam abolished the national service in peacetime, even though it could still be reactivated in times of war," Dr Muraviev wrote in an op-ed for Sky News Australia on Sunday.

"Fifty-two years later, we should be asking ourselves and Labor under Anthony Albanese if we should consider reintroducing a form of national service to increase a pool of trained reserves while we still have time. Or should we wait to be dragged into a major conflict, and deal with the consequences,"

Successive Australian governments have recognised the inadequate size of the Australian Defence Force, with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledging a 30 per cent increase to a target of 80,000 personnel by 2040 - a policy supported by Labor.

Last year, top-secret war-gaming exercises conducted for the Albanese government's defence review concluded Australia would be "f***ed" if China established a military base in a nearby Pacific nation such as the Solomon Islands.

"The question of the ADF's size came to the fore during Australia's contingencies in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which required considerable commitments supported by regular rotations of personnel," Dr Muraviev wrote.

"As the risk of Australia being drawn into a major war increase' we are facing a short window of opportunity to address some of the shortfalls in our defence capability."

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott last year floated the idea mandatory military service for school leavers.

It comes days after similar comments from European leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who used his Daily Mail column on Saturday to pledge to fight in the British army if war ever breaks out with Russia.

Mr Johnson was responding to comments last week by General Patrick Sanders 'the UK's highest ranking army officer, who warned that British citizens should be prepared to fight in a potential land war.

"No sooner had I posed myself the question - would I sign up to fight for King and country? - than I had the answer. Of course I jolly well would," Mr Johnson wrote.

Mr Johnson said that while he hoped and believed his "services will not be called upon" in a "direct military confrontation, with Russia or any other potential adversary" it would be "deluded" to think that "war is impossible",

"History teaches us that the best way to preserve the peace is to be vigilant," he wrote. "The best way to deter the aggression of men such as Vladimir Putin is to be strong. The best way to prevent a war is to prepare for it. Si vis pacem para bellum."

And two top defence officials in Sweden - which is set to become part of NATO - have also made headlines by urging Swedes to prepare for war.

Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin warned that the country faced the risk of war after almost 210 years of peace. "Are you a private individual?" he asked. "Have you considered whether you have time to join a voluntary defence organisation? If not - get moving."

Sweden's military commander-in-chief, General Micael Byden, later backed his comments, telling the national broadcaster that "we need to realise how serious the situation really is, and that everyone, individually, need to prepare themselves mentally".

In his speech last week, the General Sanders, the UK,s chief of the general staff, said any conflict would need to be a "whole-of-nation undertaking" and that citizens should be trained and equipped to be in a state of readiness.

The general's remarks come after the UK Defence Ministry said last year that it would cut overall numbers in the UK's professional army from 82,000 to 73,000 by 2025.

"Taking preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing when needed are now not merely desirable but essential," General Sanders said in a speech at an armoured vehicles conference in southwest London.

"Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve."

General Sanders, who steps down later this year, said the UK could not rely on its navy and air power, arguing that "we must be able to credibly fight and win wars on land".

UK allies were already doing so, he said.

"Our friends in eastern and northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation," he added. "Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars - citizen armies win them."

Earlier this month the chair of NATO's military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said civilians in member states should be prepared for a potential future war with Russia.

A large number of civilians would have to be called up if conflict accelerates in Europe, he added.

UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said that the UK wants to increase defence spending from 2.1 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent in the future.

In a speech this month, the Minister said that the world was "moving from a post-war to pre-war world".

The UK, he said, must ensure its "entire defence ecosystem is ready' to defend its homeland.

Richard Dannatt, who was chief of the general staff from 2006 to 2009, compared the current situation to the 1930s when the "woeful" state of the UK's armed forces failed to deter Nazi aggression.

"There is a serious danger of history repeating itself," he wrote in The Times newspaper, calling for UK defence spending to reach 3 per cent of GDP.





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