Doorstop, Parliament House

SUBJECT: Death of Warrant Officer Lachlan Muddle. 

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Yesterday evening, the Australian Defence Force lost one of its finest. Warrant Officer Lachlan Muddle died in a parachuting accident at the ADF's parachute school at Jervis Bay. Warrant Officer Muddle was involved in a mid-air collision with another parachutist, which resulted in his death. The other parachutist has received minor injuries. Both parachutists were deeply experienced. Between them, they had engaged in thousands of jumps, and they were participating in a six-week-long parachuting advanced training block. As a result of last night's accident, for the moment, parachuting within the ADF has been paused. Lachlan Muddle joined the Australian Army in 1994. He was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment, the SAS, and he qualified for the regiment in 2007. He participated in five separate deployments, including to Afghanistan. Lachlan Muddle was an expert sniper. He was a deeply experienced Special Forces soldier, and he is very much remembered for his humour and his commitment to service. As a result of last night's accident, there will now be a series of investigations, both within the Defence Force and more broadly. And we are committed to those being as thorough as possible so that every necessary lesson is learnt. In a tight-knit group such as the SAS, but really any part of the Defence Force, Lachlan Muddle's loss will be felt acutely. But I want to say that the Defence Force trains as it fights, and so there is necessarily risk in Defence Force training. And what that means is that Lachlan Muddle's sacrifice is as meaningful and significant as any of those on the battlefield. Right now, our thoughts are very much with Lachlan Muddle's family, as they are with his defence family within the SAS.

JOURNALIST: Is there any suggestion that one of them had a medical episode or just a terrible accident?

MARLES: Look, we don't know the answers to that, but as I said, there will be a very thorough investigation in relation to this so that we can learn every possible lesson that needs to be learned from this incident.

JOURNALIST: What have you been told about the particular reason, was it learning hostile entry or?

MARLES: Well, it was part of, as I said, a training block of advanced parachuting, which involved parachuting at night. And so this happened at 20 to 6 last night in low light. But that was the point of the exercise. You know, from there we really need to let this investigation play out so that we can properly understand all that's happened.

JOURNALIST: How long do you anticipate that parachute training will remain paused?

MARLES: Look, I can't answer that right now. It really does obviously matter that we continue to train and, and the skills of parachuting are fundamental to a range of occupations within the Defence Force. But for this moment, we have paused parachuting within the ADF just to understand, as best we can, at least in an immediate sense, all that's happened here.

JOURNALIST: Both parachutists were able to open their chutes and then collided. Do you know if they got tangled or whether they landed together or separately?

MARLES: Look, I don't have the precise details of that. Major General Gould, I think, has given some more information on this earlier in the day. It does appear as though the parachutes have become tangled, and that is why they were not open. But you know, the exact rate of descent, whether they landed together, all of those are details which need to be investigated.

JOURNALIST: What sort of night vision goggles were they wearing?

MARLES: I don't have an answer to that, but other than to say the point of this exercise was to do it at night. So, that was precisely the training to be engaged in.

JOURNALIST: This is the second death during a parachuting training exercise. Are you confident in the training ability there, and can you elicit any information on the report from Jack Fitzgibbon’s death? 

MARLES: Yeah, look, I mean, the answer to that question is I am confident in the activities that are being undertaken by the ADF and specifically in relation to parachuting. You know, I've seen firsthand the skill and the competence of those men and women who serve in our Defence Force. And again, specifically in relation to parachuting, in respect of Jack Fitzgibbon, there were a number of investigations there. Some of them have concluded, but others have not, particularly the investigation being undertaken by the IGADF. And so I'm reluctant to comment on those until all of those investigations are complete. But in that incident, as well as this, it's really important that these investigations are as thorough as humanly possible so that we do learn everything that we need to and learn every lesson that we need to. In respect of both incidents, I would point out that they are very different incidents, but it really is important that these investigations happen and happen in a very thorough way. Thank you.

ENDS