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MICHELLE GRATTAN. PETER Dutton has begun his tenure as defence minister by delivering a very public slap to his most senior military adviser, chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell. Dutton’s overriding of Campbell’s initial command decision to revoke a meritorious unit citation that had been awarded to some 3000 special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan is a humiliation to the general who is supposedly in command of the military. The minister’s claim that he has full faith in Campbell does not alter this point. On an issue that goes to the core of military professi...

Australia announces withdrawal from Afghanistan Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced last Thursday that the country’s remaining 80 troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn by the end of the year, bringing to a close Australia’s continuous involvement in the longest-running war of recent history. The announcement underscored the extent to which Morrison’s Liberal-National Coalition government, with the full support of the Labor opposition, is marching in lockstep with the US administration of President Joseph Biden. It came a day after Biden had declared that American troops would leav...

The minister claimed he still had full faith in General Campbell, despite overriding his decision. The Brereton report laid out specific recommendations for removing meritorious unit citations from Special Operations Task Group troops who served in Afghanistan. It emphasised the difference between group and individual awards, saying the latter could not be revoked on a broad-brush or collective basis. "Although many members of the Special Operations Task Group demonstrated great courage and commitment and although it had considerable achievements, what is now known must disentitle the unit as...

Peter Dutton has begun his tenure as defence minister by delivering a very public slap to his most senior military adviser, chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell. Dutton’s overriding of Campbell’s initial command decision to revoke a meritorious unit citation that had been awarded to some 3,000 special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan is a humiliation to the general who is supposedly in command of the military. The minister’s claim that he has full faith in Campbell does not alter this point. On an issue that goes to the core of military professionalism, ethics ...

New Defence Minister Overturns Decision to Strip Afghan Veterans of Medals Newly appointed Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton has overturned a decision to strip 3,000 soldiers of their citations after their service in Afghanistan. Last year, Chief of Defence Angus Campbell recommended the Meritorious Unit Citation be revoked for the Special Operations Task Group as a “collective punishment” after the release of a report that revealed evidence of war crimes committed by Australian personnel. However, Dutton said that only those convicted of war crimes would lose their medals. “We s...