DFAT to pay for new Baghdad armoury

M4 assault ­rifles will be bought by the ­Department of Foreign Affairs to replace AK 47s protecting Australia’s embassy in Iraq.

An armoury of new M4 assault ­rifles will be bought by the ­Department of Foreign Affairs to replace the ageing AK-47s issued by the private security company charged with protecting Australia’s embassy in Iraq.

The move, communicated to Unity Resources Group personnel in Baghdad by management, follows complaints about scrimping and unsafe practices outlined in several detailed letters provided to the company by its staff over several months.

URG has also been forced to quietly embark on a contract with a remote telehealth company to ensure its medical clinic chief is legally able to prescribe medication and carry script-only drugs and painkillers.

The embassy in Baghdad has been without a clinic — part of its $51 million contract requirements — since early January when its specialist nurse quit citing irregularities in procedures. The nurse, one of the few to have received a big pay rise under the new contract, provided a detailed statement to regional security adviser Tony Hughes, who has confirmed this has been ­delivered to DFAT.

The statement included copies of internal reports written by other nurses that have warned for more than a year that the ambassador’s personal security staff lacked the specialist first-aid, medical and life-sustaining medical training ­expected in other Commonwealth countries.

Asked about the whistleblower’s statement, DFAT secretary Peter Varghese told a Senate estimates committee on February 11 that “nothing like this has happened” and attributed the allegations to “disgruntled former employees”.

“We have looked into all of the aspects that have been raised in these media reports,’’ he said. “To give you one example of the inaccuracy of these reports, one blithely refers to statements made under public-interest disclosure legislation. Nothing like that has happened.’’

Detailed investigations by The Australian over the past two months have exposed a litany of alleged safety and weapons and security breaches by URG.

Sources said Baghdad was also still short one communications specialist, one of the few positions that requires Australian top- ­secret clearance. Two are ­required under the contract.

It is understood URG planned to put a British staffer into the second, mandatory position but that DFAT overruled this last week and demanded the position be filled within 14 days.

URG refused to comment and DFAT provided a transcript of the Senate estimates hearings as a response.