Australian MPs who served in the military

To mark Anzac Day, Campaign Confidential looks at the MPs who served in the armed forces, the size of the veteran community, and our last PM who saw active service.

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Those who have served

Andrew Hastie in Afghanistan.

Andrew Hastie MP today. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Anzac Day seems a fitting time to look at the military service of the MPs standing for re-election. Arguably the most high-profile Liberal MPs who are veterans are NSW Senator Jim Molan, whose 40-year career in the army saw him serve as Chief of Operations for the Multinational Force in Iraq, and Canning MP Andrew Hastie, who deployed to Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East during his 14 years in the military.

But the list of Coalition MPs who served is actually quite extensive. Herbert MP Phillip Thompson served in both East Timor and Afghanistan; Stirling MP Vince Connolly, who is contesting the seat of Moore in this election after Stirling was abolished in a redistribution, had tours of duty to the Solomon Islands and East Timor; Fadden MP Stuart Robert worked in military intelligence and deployed to Bougainville; and Braddon MP Gavin Pearce was decorated in a 20-year military career.

SA Liberal Senator Andrew McLachlan is a Colonel in the Australian Army Reserve and saw service in Afghanistan. In 2007 he was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross.

Two other Coalition Senators who are not up for re-election this year also have extensive military pedigrees: former Defence Minister and WA Senator Linda Reynolds, and SA Senator David Fawcett.

But the Coalition does not have all the veterans in parliament. The Labor MP for Solomon Luke Gosling served in the Parachute Infantry, Commandos and Defence Cooperation Programs during tours to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and East Timor, and Andrew Wilkie, the independent MP for Clark had a two-decade career in the army, from 1980 to 2001, during which time he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the the Royal Australian Infantry Corp.

SA Senator Rex Patrick was also a submariner in the Navy for more than a decade.

One of the other most high-profile veteran MPs, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, is not up for re-election this year.

Senator for South Australia Andrew McLachlan CSC also served in the ADF and was deployed to Afghanistan.

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Andrew . Andrew’s service in the Army inspired him to become a legatee of Legacy.

Then Major General Jim Molan, pictured at Defence Headquarters in Canberra.

The veteran vote

Back in 2019, the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) estimated the Australian veteran population was 631,800 – but surprisingly little is known about where our veterans live, and whom they vote for. In a 2017 review, the DVA estimated it had contact with one in three veterans who had served in Vietnam, and one in five who had served since 1999. In last year’s Census, Aussies were asked for the first time if they had ever served in the ADF or Reserves. When this information is made public later this year, it will give governments – and political hopefuls – their best indication of where our veterans are living.

Whitlam’s war effort

Gough Whitlam in his RAAF days.

Then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

Campaign Confidential is not too sure whether any of our serving MPs with a military background will ever end up in the Lodge, but we can tell you the last Australian PM to have served was Gough Whitlam. The future Labor leader enlisted with the RAAF in December 1941, just a few months before the bombing of Darwin, and he was assigned as a navigator to a squadron in 1943. According to the Australian War Memorial, Whitlam’s squadron operated from the Top End and northern WA, “patrolling northern Australia, providing convoy escort, and attacking Japanese positions and shipping”. Hard to imagine a Lodge occupant having had those sorts of experiences today.

Yarralumla HQ

Governor General of Australia David Hurley pictured in Tamworth recently. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Lodge may not have had too many ex-army folk lately, but Yarralumla has had plenty: in fact three of our last four Governors-General have been drawn from the ranks of the military. The Queen’s current representative in Australia is General David Hurley, the former Chief of the Defence Force. If his tenure lasts five years (which is pretty standard for a modern Governor-General), it will mean the next government will likely be in a position to recommend whoever follows General Hurley. Will our next head of state be another military figure? Campaign Confidential reckons that will depend entirely on which party is successful on May 21.

Adding to the ranks

Former commander, now barrister, and perhaps future MP, Keith Wolahan.

Whatever happens on the national stage on May 21, Campaign Confidential is pretty confident at least one more veteran will be entering parliament. Former commando Keith Wolahan, who did three tours of duty in Afghanistan and one in East Timor, is set to replace Kevin Andrews in Menzies. The seat is a virtual lock for the Libs: they’ve held it since its inception in 1984, and the current margin is 7.8 per cent. Andrews lost preselection in January, amid bitter claims that government ministers were “bullying” local branch members to support the staunch ultraconservative.

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Originally published as Australian MPs who served in the military