Key Points
- Jacqui Lambie says it’s “shameful” and “disgusting” that the government tried to hide a major review into Australia’s military justice system.
- She said the government risks losing faith from veterans that it’s committed to addressing change.
- Defence Minister Richard Marles has said he is considering the review in conjunction with the royal commission’s final report.
This article contains references to suicide.
Jacqui Lambie says it’s “shameful” and “disgusting” the government tried to hide a major review into Australia’s military justice system after it was accidentally published online.
The independent senator added that the move, coming just two weeks after the Royal Commission on Defence and Veteran Suicide released its final report, risks undermining veterans’ trust in the government’s commitment to addressing issues within the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
On Tuesday, the recently concluded royal commission published a previously secret report on its website as evidence to the inquiry, before quickly taking it down.
The report examined the office of the inspector-general of the ADF and recommended making the agency more independent to combat a perception of being too closely linked to the ADF’s top brass.
Greens senator David Shoebridge and Lambie – who had spent months campaigning for its release – tried to table it in the Senate on Tuesday but the document had been removed.
The federal government later made it public on Wednesday after Shoebridge and Lambie distributed the report online.
‘Really, really foolish’
Now Lambie has hit out the government for trying to cover up the report just two weeks after the royal commission handed down its final report.
“It was really, really foolish of the government to lose the trust of veterans in a snapshot yesterday and actually take that report down because I can tell you now, there’s actually nothing in that report we don’t already know,” she told ABC News Breakfast on Thursday.
“It’s absolutely shameful that their instant reaction yesterday was to pull it down online. Just disgusting.”
The royal commission’s final report found the number of deaths by suicide among those who serve or have served in the ADF is “unacceptably high” and made 122 recommendations for change.
Lambie questioned the federal government’s commitment to fixing cultural problems within the ADF.
“Here we have another government that wants to hide stuff instead of saying, ‘Everything is on the table, we need to fix it’.”
She added Defence was failing soldiers and veterans, and an independent review was “the only way the diggers are ever going to get justice”.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has said he is considering the review in conjunction with the royal commission’s final report.
“To respond to one report in isolation of the other would be impractical and ineffective,” a spokesperson for the minister said.
Defence Minister Richard Marles says he is looking at the review and the royal commission’s final report as a whole. Source: AAP / Jono Searle
The royal commission accepted blame for the publishing the review in error.
It inadvertently included a redacted version of the report in a large bundle of exhibits prepared for publication on the royal commission’s website.
When the mistake was discovered, the official secretary decided to remove the report from its website.
The commission does not generally publish reports provided to government that have not been released.
The inspector-general of the ADF is essentially an independent umpire, helping personnel and their families navigate the military justice system.
The report found the inspector-general’s office was “umbillically linked” to the command structure of the ADF.
It recommended legislation designed to distance the agency from Defence as well as the recruitment of additional staff.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Soldier On Australia on 1300 620 380.
ADF members and their families can call the Defence all-hours Support Line, a confidential telephone and online service, on 1800 628 036.
Open Arms provides 24-hour free and confidential counselling and support for current and former ADF members and their families on 1800 011 046.
