Sorry end to shameful chapter

Richard Marles says that by stripping Distinguished Service Medals from fewer than 10 unnamed defence personnel he has taken the final step in government action stemming from the Brereton Report into possible war crimes involving Australian service personnel in Afghanistan.

Of the 143 recommendations made by Justice Paul Brereton, 139 were now closed, with the remainder relating to work of the Office of the Special Investigator, which was set up to prepare cases against alleged war crime perpetrators.

All told, it has been a shameful episode for the defence force hierarchy and it is difficult to fully accept that it is now job done.

When the Brereton Report was released, we editorialised that the Australian Defence Force must get on with responding properly to the cultural issues that had been brought to light. This included holding to account members of the ADF top brass, who should have been better informed and better equipped to manage the culture and behaviour of troops under their command.

It was established that senior commanders repeatedly certified specialist forces fit for multiple tours of duty despite signs it was taking a terrible physical and mental toll on those who were being sent back continuously to the combat frontline. Exactly who in defence has been disciplined is not clear. Mr Marles said obligations owed to individuals, including under the Privacy Act, meant he could not disclose the details and outcome of the disciplinary actions. But it is understood former chief of the defence force Angus Campbell, who served as Middle East commander when some of the war crimes occurred, will retain his Distinguished Service Cross.

Mr Marles said the medals were stripped not because of personal actions of those involved but because of the way defence operated. Commanders received the benefit and the accolades of what their units did irrespective of whether they were at the frontline. Commensurately, they accept responsibility for the units in terms of failings. Opposition defence spokesman and former Afghanistan soldier Andrew Hastie is correct to say that those in the chain of command should have asked more questions about Australia’s conduct in the war. He said earlier intervention by a political and strategic leadership might have avoided much of the pain that people have experienced.

There is a collective responsibility for what happened with our most elite fighting forces. It is still not clear that full responsibility has been taken at the top.