Joint doorstop interview with The Hon Andrew Hastie MP, Assistant Minister for Defence

ANDREW HASTIE:
Good afternoon. It’s my great pleasure to welcome my close friend and colleague, the Honourable Peter Dutton Minister for Defence, to Western Australia, and we’ll be shortly taking a visit to the Special Air Service Regiment not far here. Today I welcome the decision by the Minister for Defence to reinstate the Meritorious Unit Citation for members of the Special Operations Task Group who have served our country faithfully and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict. It sends an important signal to the ADF and to the wider Defence community that we have your back – and that’s what the Minister said last week – we have your back.

I also note the Prime Minister today announced that we’ll be initiating a Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide. But we’re met here at the Subiaco Fallen Soldier Memorial before we head off to the SASR in light of Anzac coming up, but also emphasise the importance of service to our country. We have a great historical tradition of service to our country, and the names on the wall there indicate that. So welcome to WA Peter Dutton. It’s great to have you, and I look forward to your visit.

PETER DUTTON:
Thanks very much. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for being here. It’s a great honour to be visiting the SAS this afternoon, and many Australians wouldn’t know the extent of the work of the SAS, but they go to bed each night in a safe environment, in a safe country like ours because of the work that the officers at the SAS.

Andrew Hastie has worn that uniform. He’s represented his country in many ways, obviously now most recently in his ministerial role. He’s obviously a great work mate and somebody on whom I rely regularly. He’s got a great read for defence matters and has the men and women of the Australian Defence Force at the centre of every decision that he makes in his portfolio.

I wanted to thank all of the personnel, all of the officers, all of the frontline personnel that I’ve spoken with over the course of the last few weeks for their guidance, for their sense of where they think things are at within the Australian Defence Force. I’ve taken a decision today because I believe that we should recognise the vast majority of those 3,000 individuals who have done remarkable work in our country’s name, and to receive this unit citation recognises the work that they’ve done as being designed to keep us safe.

There are 39,000 men and women of the Australian Defence Force who have served in our name in the Middle East, in recent conflicts and they’ve done so because they want to keep our country safe, they want to keep the rest of the world safe from terrorism, from the evils of ISIL. I remarked before that we’ve bought Yazidi women to our country. They were enslaved, raped and murdered by ISIL, and that is the sort of adversary that our Defence personnel were up against and where there have been acts that have been quite remarkable and have been recognised through the unit citation, I want that to be recognised.

It doesn’t diminish from the fact that some people have done the wrong thing and people will be held to account for those allegations if they’re proven to be correct. This is an important decision. I also want to say in relation to the Royal Commission, the Prime Minister has been fighting hard to do what he can for our veterans for a long period of time and we have been very keen to have a standing Royal Commission-type arrangement where families can go for answers, where matters can be examined and we can learn from the lessons where people have self-harmed or indeed suicided.

So there’s a lot of support for our Defence Force. The record amount that we’re investing over the course of the next decade, $270 billion plus, does say to members of the Australian Defence Force that we have their backs and that this Government will provide whatever support we can to allow you to do your work.

As we come into Anzac Day, we know that, yes, we commemorate the incredible sacrifice of the original Anzacs and all of those men and women who have served in uniform since that time, but particularly this Anzac Day, my focus is going to be on the 39,000 who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent times because we owe them a great debt of gratitude. We are a grateful country for the service of those who work in the Australian Defence Force. They do so in our name, and they’re properly recognised in various ways, including through the unit citation. I’m happy to take any questions.

JOURNALIST:
Minister, if we can have a crowd of 54,000 people at the football on Friday night, will we be having crowds like that at Anzac Day ceremonies around the nation?

PETER DUTTON:
Well it’s really hard for veterans to understand why you can have 30 or 50 or 70,000 people at a footy match – which is a great thing – but you can’t have numbers at an Anzac Day memorial service, particularly when people will be sensible about social distancing, understanding all of the restrictions that are in place to keep people safe. There are a lot of veterans who are just shaking their heads at the logic. I hope that the various health departments can reconsider some of the numbers and limitations between now and Anzac Day because we want in great number, wherever possible, to go out and to commemorate the service and the sacrifice of many that has resulted in us leading the life that we do in our country today. Never forget that we’re standing here freely and safely in a great country because of the sacrifice that people have made over generations wearing that uniform. It’s right that we would want to commemorate that on Anzac Day.

JOURNALIST:
Minister, we’ve obviously heard the Prime Minister talking about mental health today. To what extent did mental health and morale in the Special Forces and the Defence Force generally play a role in your decision regarding the citation?

PETER DUTTON:
My judgement was that we can look at the individuals who have done the wrong thing, but that their actions shouldn’t define the acts of bravery and the acts of valour of the vast majority. The 99 per cent of people have done the right thing, and that’s what we recognise today. I do want to see morale lift within the Australian Defence Force, and I’ve sent a very clear message where I’ve visited bases, where I’ve spoken to Defence personnel, that we are getting back to business and we want to make sure that our country is prepared for whatever might eventuate in the 21st century.

We don’t know whether conflict in our region or around the world could erupt at any time, and we need our Defence Force personnel to remain the best trained in the world, to be given the kit that they’re requiring to undertake that work and to make sure that we invest over the coming decades in the significant equipment that they need to perform their tasks. So yes, a number of reasons for my decision today, but first and foremost was to recognise the incredible efforts of those 3,000 officers. I think for their families, particularly of those who have fallen, they want to wear that unit citation medal this Anzac Day and I want them to. I want them to be proud of that medal and what it represents and for it to be a demonstration to others that they’re wearing it on behalf of somebody that they’ve lost. I want us to be incredibly proud of that family member and of that individual that has sacrificed their life for us.

JOURNALIST:
Do you know if there’s a precedent in the Australian or British forces where a unit citation is awarded to some personnel and others are excluded?

PETER DUTTON:
Well I think if you look at history you can, anybody who can say that hand on heart that unit citations given to units – whether it’s an allied force or any force – that Australia’s been involved in and say that everybody acted impeccably, I just don’t think anybody can say that. Where people have done the wrong thing, we will, we have a process through the Office of the Special Investigator, internal processes within the Australian Defence Force, to deal with those issues; but the message here is that we’ve got fine Australians who have done the right thing in Afghanistan and Iraq and they deserve to be recognised and that’s what we’ve done today.

JOURNALIST:
You have said you want to lift morale, what else are you going to do to do over the next coming months? And when you spoke to, or have you spoken to Angus Campbell about your decision and when you spoke to him, what did you say?

PETER DUTTON:
I spoke to the Chief of Defence Force obviously and told him my decision and he accepted that. Angus Campbell is an incredibly professional and capable person. I have the utmost respect for him. I’ve worked with him for a number of years. I’ve seen him perform around the National Security Committee table and a finer Australian you couldn’t find. He is obviously, like a lot of people, impacted by the Brereton Report; some of the shocking allegations and his response was appropriate at the time. My decision, considering all of the facts now, means that we can say to the Australian Defence Force personnel who are involved, that we want you to wear that medal on Anzac Day. We want you to continue to be proud of the service that you’ve given and he accepts all of that.

JOURNALIST:
And what else are you going to do to lift morale?

PETER DUTTON:
Well I’m continuing to move around the country and I want to visit as many bases as I can. I want to speak to as many of our personnel as I can. I want to recognise their service. I want to listen to what they think is good and bad about serving in the Defence Force. I want to address as much of that as I can and Andrew Hastie is doing the same. It’s a strong team that we’ve got. We want to make sure that we can provide for our veterans whether they’re having just, you know, served recently in conflicts or back to, you know, Korea or Vietnam or the Second World War, peacekeeping missions otherwise, we want to provide whatever support we can to those people as well.

JOURNALIST:
Will you be reversing the decision regarding 2 Squadron?

PETER DUTTON:
The Chief has made a decision in relation to that matter and I don’t propose to change that.

JOURNALIST:
In regards to Angus Campbell, is there any reason one of your first major decisions in the portfolio is one that could potentially be humiliating for the Chief of the Defence Forces?

PETER DUTTON:
I just don’t see it like that. I think it’s an opportunity for me, coming fresh into this job, to look at all of the facts and to make a decision on that basis. I have the utmost respect and support for Angus and for his senior leadership team, and there’s a lot of fantastic work that is going on within the Australian Defence Force. I want to see our attrition rate grow, I want to see our retention rate increase and I want to see our soldiers and others right across the defence community turning up to work and doing the best they can. My commitment that I have given, and I want to deliver every day in this portfolio, is to have the back of those defence personnel and to thank them for what they do, and for the sacrifice that they make and I’ll be doing that as well at the regiment this afternoon.

JOURNALIST:
[inaudible] regarding the citation?

PETER DUTTON:
I’ve dealt with that issue.

JOURNALIST:
One person who did serve our country is Vince Connelly. He is looking at losing his seat due to the redistribution. Would you like to see him run in another electorate in WA?

PETER DUTTON:
Well I want to see Vince Connelly remain in the Parliament. I think he is one of the most remarkable finds from Western Australia – along with Andrew. I think WA should be incredibly proud of the calibre of individuals you are sending to the Liberal Party in Canberra. These are men that have both served their country, and I come from a marginal seat and it’s never fun when you have a redistribution. They’ re issues for the Party. My overriding want, desire, ask, plea is for Vince to be returned and to have a very long career because I think he’s got an incredible [inaudible] to contribute to our country.

JOURNALIST:
Do you reckon he could run in Pearce?

PETER DUTTON:
Well I think we’ve got a candidate in Pearce.

JOURNALIST:
Why did it take the Government so long to announce a Royal Commission into suicides for veterans, particularly when more than 500 people have committed suicide post the war and only 41 or 41 people died during their service?

PETER DUTTON:
Because we don’t want there to be a five hundred and first, but inevitably there will be, sadly, tragically and the Prime Minister wanted a process in place where the five hundred and first, the circumstances surrounding that death, the family, would have the opportunity to tell their story, to have their matter looked at and the Prime Minister therefore wanted a standing arrangement with Royal Commission-type powers that could provide those answers and try and provide some clarity to that family.

So the good thing about a Royal Commission is that it provides a snapshot at a point in time, you can learn the lessons, you can implement the changes, but it’s a point in time event and post that, you don’t have then the recourse or the ability for a family that would be living in absolute tragedy to try and have some of the questions answered and that’s why we have tried to get that legislation through the Parliament.

Now I hope that we’ve got the best of both worlds. We will have the Royal Commission and the standing arrangement post that.

JOURNALIST:
So just explain that a bit further because…will one be more for providing assistance to people who are suffering and the other one is just to…

PETER DUTTON:
…no, I think they both work in parallel essentially with the same outcome and that is that we want to find the answers. I mean none of us, no Australian, nobody from any side of politics or in the broader society wants to see suicide or self harm. We want to provide support to our veterans, but we need to recognise that when we send people off to a theatre of war, in many cases their lives change forever. In many cases there’s the overlay of a family relationship breakdown, of financial woes, of issues in their own personal lives – like we would see in society more generally.

We need to understand why people have taken their lives, what can be done to prevent the next case from happening and I think both the Royal Commission and a standing arrangement where families can go with questions, suggestions, I think that can only help the process and that’s what the Prime Minister signed up to.

JOURNALIST:
Will there be an historical aspect to it? Australia has been involved in war since a hundred and something years. There have been presumably suicides after every conflict.

PETER DUTTON:
Well I think by its very nature these things are retrospective in application and they are able to look at cases [inaudible] and families and some families who to this very day just don’t have the answers about why their loved one took their own life, and hopefully we can provide them with some support. At the moment, as you know, the Government is spending record amounts of money on providing support through different programs to the veteran community. For some individuals that’s not enough and we need to do whatever we can to provide support to those men and women who served our country.

JOURNALIST:
Are you possibly visiting any possible deployments overseas this Anzac Day?

PETER DUTTON:
No, no, I’ll be in Australia on Anzac Day and I hope to visit overseas shortly, but not as yet.

JOURNALIST:
RSL’s…one of the reasons they have had to cancel services is because of the cost of implementing COVID safe restrictions. Should state governments or the WA State Government chip into their own back pocket to help out?

PETER DUTTON:
Well as I say, WA health and other health authorities around the country have made decisions in relation to how many people should be able to attend a ceremony and to commemorate Anzac Day. Equally they have put in place the measures that they believe need to be complied with and the cost that is associated with that is something that is obviously a great burden for RSLs and service organisations. So I hope that the state government’s able to consider support to help those RSLs and organisations meet the cost and meet the obligations that have been imposed on them.

Thanks very much.

[ends]