War crimes report: Andrew Hastie’s Defence oversight call rejected two years ago

Andrew Hastie’s plan for greater oversight of the Australian Defence Force is identical to a proposal dismissed two years ago.

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie. Picture: Marie Nirme

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie’s plan for greater parliamentary oversight of the Australian Defence Force is identical to a proposal dismissed by the government two years ago.

In an opinion article in The Australian following the Brereton war crimes inquiry, the former SAS captain said parliamentary scrutiny of Defence was “broken and needs fixing”, urging a new oversight committee with powers to ask “tough questions” in a classified setting.

The joint standing committee on foreign affairs, Defence and Trade made the same call in a ­November 2018 report, recommending a stand-alone committee with “real powers of oversight”.

Its defence subcommittee, headed by senator Jim Molan — a retired major general — said the proposed oversight committee should be modelled on parliament’s intelligence committee, which can hear classified information from security chiefs.

The proposal was rejected at the time as unnecessary by then-defence minister Christopher Pyne. Senator Molan said the committee’s recommendations should be re-examined in light of the Brereton inquiry’s findings.

“This does not replace the executive responsibility of government or ministers, and I do not support the parliament making war decisions,” he told The Australian. “This proposal contributes to the likelihood of a bipartisan ­approach to certain basic elements of defence and national security. At present there is very little, if any. This would not guarantee war crimes never occur again, but it puts the emphasis on getting strategy right, which is bigger than any minister or any government.”

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds failed to respond to inquiries from The Australian on the need for improved parliamentary oversight. Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles said the 2018 recommendations were not an ­answer to the “appalling” findings of the Brereton report. But he said civilian oversight of Defence was “a critically important principle”

Mr Pyne said he stood by his 2018 decision, saying there was ­already “comprehensive oversight” of Defence.