Bushfires: thumbs up for the ADF’s own online showcase

The Australian Defence Force has produced its own online advertisement showcasing its support for the bushfire recovery effort.

The Australian Defence Force has produced its own online advertisement showcasing its support for the bushfire recovery effort, after an ill-timed Liberal Party ad on the fires was slammed as insensitive.

The ADF video shows RAAF aircrews assisting community members to evacuate Mallacoota, and includes an explanation of the operation by the pilot of a C-27J Spartan cargo plane.

Australian Defence Association executive director Neil James, who led the attack on the Scott Morrison-authorised Liberal Party ad, said he had no problem with the ADF video.

“It’s the Defence Force explaining what it’s doing. It’s not a political party riding on the back of the Defence Force,” he said. “It’s an entirely different thing. No one looking at that ad is going to think the ADF is being politicised. Whereas the problem with the Liberal Party ad is they were attempting to dress up a political ad by using the Defence Force.”

The Prime Minister faced a wave of criticism after releasing a social media advertisement on Saturday spruiking his government’s deployment of ADF personnel to support the bushfire recovery effort.

“We’re putting more Defence Force boots on the ground, more planes in the sky, more ships to sea, and more trucks to roll in to support the bushfire fighting effort and recovery as part of our co-ordinated response to these terrible #bushfires,” Mr Morrison said.

At the time, Mr James said the ad was aimed at “milking ADF support to civil agencies fighting bushfires”.

On Tuesday, he said he’d received a wave of positive social media feedback endorsing his criticism of the Liberal Party ad. “The overwhelming feedback from serving and former Defence Force members and their families was giving us the thumbs up,” he said.