Tassie MPs hold the power in Teddy’s VC battle

The PM has denied Teddy Sheean his VC, with a “muddled word salad of excuses” and the power to have his commendation awarded lays with his party in Tasmania, writes outspoken Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie.

THERE’S been heaps written about Teddy Sheean in the last few weeks, but you only need to know two things.

One is that there is now total agreement that Teddy Sheean earned a Victoria Cross of Australia. The Prime Minister has accepted Sheean earned it.

He hasn’t argued that point.

Two, in spite of having earned it, Teddy has not received it, because the Prime Minister overruled his own minister’s recommendation, and the recommendation of the expert tribunal that looked into Sheean’s case more thoroughly than it has ever been previously examined.

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The Prime Minister took it on himself to deny a Tasmanian teenager our highest military award. Ask him why, and you get a muddled word salad of excuses.

None of them makes any sense or holds up to the lightest scrutiny. The PM says no new evidence has come forward since 2013.

He says in order to grant the VC posthumously, you need new evidence. The independent Tribunal itself found that is wrong.

Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean who died on board HMAS Armidale.

It found the evidence used to deny Sheean a VC in the first place was “inaccurate and that it understated Sheean’s actions.”

It looked at all the evidence, including new evidence, and concluded there was now enough evidence to warrant that VC. It was a unanimous recommendation.

The PM says awarding Sheean a posthumous VC after all this time would be unprecedented in Australia and the Commonwealth.

That’s false. Two VCs were awarded, to Leading Seaman Jack Mantle and Petty Officer Alfred Sephton, for remaining at their posts after they were injured in order to bring down enemy aircraft. Those two men were both trained to operate their cannons. Their commendations were for the bravery they showed by remaining at their cannons after they were injured.

Dale Marsh's painting of Teddy Sheean, who lashed himself to his gun and fired until the HMAS Armadale sank. He gave others time to get away. Picture: Australian War Memorial.

Sheean was not trained to operate his ship’s cannon. It wasn’t his job to operate it. He was a loader, not a shooter. He did what he did because there was nobody else who could.

And what’s more, Sheean wasn’t injured when he returned to that cannon.

Unlike Mantle, who was badly injured and didn’t have the ability to leave his post to try to survive, Sheean made a decision to forego his chances of survival in order to make sure that his crewmates had a chance to survive themselves. The Tribunal found that Sheean’s actions may have even surpassed the actions of Mantle and Sephton.

They received posthumous VCs. They deserved to. The question is why Sheean does not, considering there is clear precedent for it.

Jacqui Lambie. Picture: Gary Ramage

Then there’s the argument we shouldn’t put up Sheean for a VC — despite him having earned it, let’s not forget — because it would hurt the Queen’s feelings somehow.

The less said about this argument the better. Maybe it’s just worth reminding the Liberal Party that if there’s ever a choice to make between sticking up for an Australian hero or protecting the feelings of Queen Elizabeth, that shouldn’t be a bloody difficult choice.

The PM said an earlier 2013 review was “more comprehensive” — his words, not mine. I don’t know where he got that from, because there’s nothing more comprehensive than a full merits review, which looks at every single piece of evidence and considers everything available to it.

The 2013 review wasn’t a full merits review. The 2019 review was. And the 2019 one found Teddy Sheean met every single criteria for awarding a Victoria Cross of Australia.

The PM says he doesn’t want to create two tiers of VCs, and told breakfast radio that recipients like Keith Payne VC had raised the risk of creating a two-tier system.

Keith Payne supports Sheean getting the Victoria Cross.

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He said it himself. What’s more, he said, “if an award is warranted, make sure that it bloody well goes out”.

“Australia knows,” Payne said, “he should have got that award”.

There’s only two things that can force a PM who’s made a bad decision to make the right one. Public pressure and political reality. I can’t force the PM to do the right thing, but two Tasmanian Liberal MPs can.

The Liberal Party gives every one of its representatives the right to cross the floor. That’s a right available to Bridget Archer, federal MP for Bass, and Gavin Pearce, federal MP for Braddon.

The PM only has a two-seat majority in the House of Representatives. If Bridget Archer and Gavin Pearce threaten to cross the floor, the PM will be faced with losing a vote or celebrating an Australian hero. If they do, I promise I will take out a full billboard praising them in their electorates. You don’t often see politicians paying for advertising promoting other politicians, but that’s what I’m prepared to do. Hold me to it.

What are you waiting for?

Jacqui Lambie is a Tasmanian senator.