During my nearly 40 years in Defence, first reaching WO the taking a Commision, I have seen and experience first hand, the excellent Human Resources/Management/Dealing with People course Defence run.  In the last decade in particular, Warrant Officers and Officers are much more able to deal with issues, personalities and especially the media than before.   Senior Officers receive even more training to prepare them fo sensitive  agenda like Senate Estimates and how to deal with Politicians in particular.    When a new Defence Minister is announced, the Defence machine springs quickly into action to determine the best way to impress a Minister and mould him/her to what Defence want.  Sometimes  it can be as easy as a lot of pompous ingratiating ceremony wherever the pollie goes.   Fly in a jet, a dive on a submarine, a night roughing it in the bush, all media and defence handled.    Without knowing it, a defence minister can be easily pulled into the net, ready for processing and soon at the mercy of Defence.  Sign this, do that, promote her/him, do as your told.       For the last few Defence Miniters that has most probably been achieved.

Dutton I think would be different.   I don’t think the Defence Machine will take him easily and he could spell danger for those selected for the top jobs in their respective services and as VCDF and CDF.  I think he would be a demanding minister and want full outlines of military decisions.  I definitely don’t see him as one of the boys and see him keeping a well arms length from uniforms and concentrating more on Defence doing what it is told to do, rather than what defence says it wants to do.       I think he would do a great job as Defence Minister, but he will face an uphill battle with Defence uniforms as he pushes agenda through.

il Duce' as Minister of Defence?  Yea, gods, no.  He'd want defence to invade Indonesia the first chance he got.  He'd install his sycophants and Defence would be a disaster for at least a decade.  Tsk, tsk.  ::) ::)

Vic wrote on Mar 29^th, 2021 at 12:32pm:

During my nearly 40 years in Defence, first reaching WO the taking a Commision, I have seen and experience first hand, the excellent Human Resources/Management/Dealing with People course Defence run.  In the last decade in particular, Warrant Officers and Officers are much more able to deal with issues, personalities and especially the media than before.   Senior Officers receive even more training to prepare them fo sensitive  agenda like Senate Estimates and how to deal with Politicians in particular.    When a new Defence Minister is announced, the Defence machine springs quickly into action to determine the best way to impress a Minister and mould him/her to what Defence want.  Sometimes  it can be as easy as a lot of pompous ingratiating ceremony wherever the pollie goes.   Fly in a jet, a dive on a submarine, a night roughing it in the bush, all media and defence handled.    Without knowing it, a defence minister can be easily pulled into the net, ready for processing and soon at the mercy of Defence.  Sign this, do that, promote her/him, do as your told.       For the last few Defence Miniters that has most probably been achieved. Dutton I think would be different.   I don’t think the Defence Machine will take him easily and he could spell danger for those selected for the top jobs in their respective services and as VCDF and CDF.  I think he would be a demanding minister and want full outlines of military decisions.  I definitely don’t see him as one of the boys and see him keeping a well arms length from uniforms and concentrating more on Defence doing what it is told to do, rather than what defence says it wants to do.       I think he would do a great job as Defence Minister, but he will face an uphill battle with Defence uniforms as he pushes agenda through.

I think that's a fair assessment.

Looking at the people who hate him makes me confident about Dutton's  ability to perform well.

Good. Dutton would join the Papuans, Philipinos, Timorese, Melanesian Islands, Balinese and Indigenous Indos against the Indonesian Moslems when the time soon comes.
8-)
Hail Australia's Himmler!

Quote:

Hypothetical- Dutton as Defence Minister

I can see him with a lead role in the Mr Potato head movie ?

Not much else though.

As de Fence Minister he may be able to do a job with de palings.

No longer hypothetical. Let's see what the future brings.

Australia's hawkish new defence minister Peter Dutton :o :o

Belgarion wrote on Mar 30^th, 2021 at 11:45am:

No longer hypothetical. Let's see what the future brings.

I think Dutton will sort them out.    I am far from a Liberal Supporter but in this case the right choice has been made.     In his previous portfolio, Dutton had a huge amount of power, and could basically do want he liked.  I see defence as a lessening of that power, but an increase in status.    He will need to get in on the ground running and be prepared to shirtfront the bosses of the services - it won't be easy and he had better be prepared to stand his ground.  I just hope the Defence Secretary is of similar attitude with the mandarins that head the public service side of defence.     There needs to be an absolute clean out of both sides.

[list bull-blackball]

Change all uniforms to a nice black colour

Organise march on Canberra

Seize Government

Attack Indonesia

::) ::)

The Morrison government’s decision to establish a missile manufacturing industry is one of our nation’s most important strategic decisions in decades.

Of course, we have to be watchful of the distance between announcement and delivery. But the government is proceeding with real urgency. That is fantastic, for nothing has been more lacking in defence over the past 15 years than urgency.

Peter Dutton has a chance to be a significant defence minister after a long trail of spectacularly unimpressive defence minister performances. Since Kevin Rudd’s election in 2007 we have had as defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon, John Faulkner, Stephen Smith, David Johnston, Kevin Andrews, Marise Payne, Christopher Pyne, Linda Reynolds and now Dutton.

Poor fellow, my country. That’s nine defence ministers in 14 years. That’s nuts.

Some of those ministers were capable but were in the job for only five minutes. Defence policy was at its worst under Rudd and Julia Gillard. Defence spending fell to its all-time historic low, not a single Australian ship was commissioned and nothing was done towards getting new submarines.

Tony Abbott’s biggest single mistake was appointing Johnston as defence minister, just as Morrison’s biggest mistake was appointing Reynolds. Both of them good people, neither was remotely up to the job. Their political failures became policy failures. Importantly, neither had any capacity to draw a national debate, or a defence program, back to order if it went awry.

To appoint such ineffective people to such a critically important position reflects poorly on the prime ministers who made those appointments.

Still, the past is a foreign country and, as Lenin had it, the only question that counts is: what is to be done?

Should Morrison win re-election it would be a good thing for the nation if Dutton settled in to defence for at least another full parliamentary term. Defence could certainly do with a strong minister who stayed in place for several years.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/what-peter-dutton-needs-to-do-as-defence-minister/news-story/2eaa685542b0e382a800cabe5f7ff731

maybe a very small fence ?

Vic wrote on Mar 30^th, 2021 at 1:24pm:

Belgarion wrote on Mar 30th, 2021 at 11:45am: No longer hypothetical. Let's see what the future brings. I think Dutton will sort them out.    I am far from a Liberal Supporter but in this case the right choice has been made.     In his previous portfolio, Dutton had a huge amount of power, and could basically do want he liked.  I see defence as a lessening of that power, but an increase in status.    He will need to get in on the ground running and be prepared to shirtfront the bosses of the services - it won't be easy and he had better be prepared to stand his ground.  I just hope the Defence Secretary is of similar attitude with the mandarins that head the public service side of defence.     There needs to be an absolute clean out of both sides.

You are right.




“My message is we are getting back to business. That business is more important than ever, and that business is to keep Australia safe and secure.”

Mr Dutton said he had told the Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell and the secretary of his department, Greg Moriarty, in their first meeting following his late-March appointment, to provide all available support to the troops and get major procurement programs back on track.

“There are priorities that we will focus on which will make it very clear to our troops that the government has their back,” he said.





Dutton is right to say they represent the best of our nation. They do not exist as an arm of exemplary social policy. They are not required to be the wokest force on the planet.  They are required to master the application of deadly force to protect the peace.  The combination of their character, their courage, their training and their equipment needs to deter those who would do us harm. This is the clearest statement of purpose a defence minister has made in a long time.


Just so.

Well - I guess that finishes the sheilas for forces campaign..... Campbell made such headway by adopting that one....

Now it seems we need combat troops and not their mythical peacetime military.

(jibe)  I suppose once Labor takes over, they'll re-introduce the draft for the Serfs - the men - of Australia - so they can go forth half-prepared, under-motivated, demoralised, and entirely unsupported by their feminist masters(sic)... and confront the enemy armed with Woke ideas and ideals.....


... the problem here isn't big wings or small wings for the angels.... I need pilots... the simple facts are that our young men must shoot down their Woke young men at the rate of four to one if we are to even keep pace........... I need pilots....

Vietnam proved that Conscription is a non-event for Australian society, unless Australia is facing an existential crisis.  Conscripts did quite well in that war but the people back home didn't like the idea of their sons being sent off to possibly die in a foreign war that was really no concern of Australia.  They were unable to vote to for their their fates.  This of course led to the voting age being reduced to 18, rather than 21.  Conscription is such a thorny subject no major Australian Political Party would touch it with a six foot pole.  Il Duce' Dutton is a lunatic but even he would be prevented from trying it by Scotty from Marketing. ::) ::)

In the event of a major crisis - conscription is the only way to get enough boots on feet... though the time available to bring troops and such up to speed may not be available in any foreseeable future conflict, so our immediate resources will need to hold the line.... for which we will need the high tech power of our major alliance partners... and new alliances are forming as we speak....

In view of the speed with which any future crisis may develop - we need a stronger and higher tech permanent military now... so conscription is a last resort...

Any dust-up with a 'major Asian mainland power' will be naval and air - which will pretty much decide the outcome..... either one will be contained and set back, or the other's cordon broken so as to permit extrusion by armed forces from the mainland.

Of course - extending a network westwards (by a 'major Asian mainland power) is another way of striking out and threatening energy resources .... autobahns and eisenbahns are notoriously difficult to take out - and easy to repair with massive manpower......unless you are prepared to do what was proposed with the Ho Chi Minh trail... sow it with radioactive waste... carpet bombing a stretch of road or rail is useless unless you can permanently interdict it... and prevent repair.


"Mr Dutton!  What do you propose to do about defence?"

"I'm going to send de man with de hammer and nails to fix it!"

You missed my point entirely about conscripting the lesser citizens under a feminist regime, Brian.  Had to be deliberate...

So how are they going to handle such things, d'ya think?  Open up your thinking, lad - start looking at scenarios while you're supporting all these 'woke' ideas...

What are the 'wokes' going to do in a crisis, if they actually have control of the nation?  Do a Stalin and send in all the peasants/serfs to die for the motherland in some Great Patriotic War? Create special punishment battalions of dissidents, chauvinists, misogynists, Islamophobes, Kaffir-haters, and so forth, and send them in human wave attacks?  :D

I assume Australia's leadership will act appropriately in a crisis, Graps.  We have numerous examples of overseas where Prime Ministers and Presidents have acted in as harsher or harsher ways in such situations from Golda Meir through Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and so on, so I see no reason to doubt an Australian female Prime Minister reacting accordingly when the chips are down. ::) ::)

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 14^th, 2021 at 10:56am:

I assume Australia's leadership will act appropriately in a crisis, Graps.  We have numerous examples of overseas where Prime Ministers and Presidents have acted in as harsher or harsher ways in such situations from Golda Meir through Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and so on, so I see no reason to doubt an Australian female Prime Minister reacting accordingly when the chips are down. ::) ::)

Such a crisis will flare up quickly - there is no vast distance between Tokyo and Washington these days.... no time for consideration and negotiation ... distances are 'short' in terms of the ability to move across the air and sea... aircraft cross in hours not ships in weeks.... and remember what happened in the Pacific in 1941-2...

However - Taiwan is kind of like Britain in 1940, no?  That bloody channel in the way...

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Apr 14^th, 2021 at 12:58pm:

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 14th, 2021 at 10:56am: I assume Australia's leadership will act appropriately in a crisis, Graps.  We have numerous examples of overseas where Prime Ministers and Presidents have acted in as harsher or harsher ways in such situations from Golda Meir through Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and so on, so I see no reason to doubt an Australian female Prime Minister reacting accordingly when the chips are down. ::) ::) Such a crisis will flare up quickly - there is no vast distance between Tokyo and Washington these days.... no time for consideration and negotiation ... distances are 'short' in terms of the ability to move across the air and sea... aircraft cross in hours not ships in weeks.... and remember what happened in the Pacific in 1941-2... However - Taiwan is kind of like Britain in 1940, no?  That bloody channel in the way...

If you have evidence that contradicts what I have said, please present it, Graps, otherwise we will just put this down to your general misogyny.  You appear uncomfortable with idea that woman may assume positions of power for some immature, inscrutable reason.  Women are just as capable and in some cases, even more so, than most men in positions of responsibility.   We have only had one female Prime Minister and Tory and misogynist propaganda aside, she performed quite well in that position.  She did not have a single piece of legislation defeated in the House, which is more than can be said for most male Prime Ministers.  You however appear unable to accept her as an able Prime Minister simply because she didn't have her genitalia on the outside of her body.  Tsk, tsk.  ::) ::)

Brian Ross wrote on Mar 29^th, 2021 at 2:12pm:

il Duce' as Minister of Defence?  Yea, gods, no.  He'd want defence to invade Indonesia the first chance he got.  He'd install his sycophants and Defence would be a disaster for at least a decade.  Tsk, tsk.  ::) ::)

Another poke in the eye for Bbwian

Peter Dutton is stamping his authority on the defence portfolio by the day. His decision, a week out from Anzac Day, to allow Special Operations Task Group members to wear their meritor­ious unit ­citations “with pride” will be welcomed by most Afghanistan veterans.

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell’s decision to strip the citations from more than 3000 special forces veterans as a mark of their “collective responsibility” for war crimes was always a flawed one.

"CDF put back in his box by Dutton.

Australia’s special forces veterans who served in Afghanistan will retain their Meritorious Unit Citations unless convicted of war crimes or sacked for poor conduct. Peter Dutton, in his first major public decision in the Defence portfolio, will officially overrule Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell’s decision to strip the citations from more than 3000 special forces soldiers as a “collective punishment” for the alleged crimes uncovered by the Brereton inquiry.
Mr Dutton will announce the move on Monday — just a week out from Anzac Day — declaring “99 per cent of our ADF personnel serve, and have served, our country with distinction”.

The beginning of the end for Campbell.   Word on the streets is that an Admiral is being groomed for the top job.    This should leave Campbell free to run for pre-selection in "One Nation"

Dutton will set the low water mark in yet another portfolio.

Dnarever wrote on Apr 19^th, 2021 at 12:00pm:

Dutton will set the low water mark in yet another portfolio.

You'd  hate him even if he rescued your mother from a burning house.   :D

Vic wrote on Apr 19^th, 2021 at 10:42am:

"CDF put back in his box by Dutton. Australia’s special forces veterans who served in Afghanistan will retain their Meritorious Unit Citations unless convicted of war crimes or sacked for poor conduct. Peter Dutton, in his first major public decision in the Defence portfolio, will officially overrule Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell’s decision to strip the citations from more than 3000 special forces soldiers as a “collective punishment” for the alleged crimes uncovered by the Brereton inquiry. Mr Dutton will announce the move on Monday — just a week out from Anzac Day — declaring “99 per cent of our ADF personnel serve, and have served, our country with distinction”. The beginning of the end for Campbell.   Word on the streets is that an Admiral is being groomed for the top job.    This should leave Campbell free to run for pre-selection in "One Nation"

By what reasoning did Campbell decide this action in the first place? No one has been tried or found guilty of anything yet, but Campbell was so anxious to cover his own arse with the government and the media he acted before any offences have been proven to have taken place.

Having said that though, should anyone be found guilty then there is a case to be made for the removal of the award from all those in country at the time.  The Meritorious Unit Citation is a group award, if one lets the side down then none get the award.

Didn't think it was a decision for the Defence Minister to make - Defence Minister Peter Dutton says there are 'no plans for Australian troops to return' to Afghanistan  ::) ::)

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 25^th, 2021 at 2:56pm:

Didn't think it was a decision for the Defence Minister to make - Defence Minister Peter Dutton says there are 'no plans for Australian troops to return' to Afghanistan  ::) ::)

Nobody said it was a decision for the Defence Minister, Bbwian.

Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo warns 'drums of war' are beating in a message to staff ::) ::)

He looked fine when he had hair!

https://media.apnarm.net.au/media/images/2017/08/01/dutton-jxmxq7d1hy6gjqgdoo2_t1880.jpg

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 13^th, 2021 at 1:25pm:

Vietnam proved that Conscription is a non-event for Australian society, unless Australia is facing an existential crisis.  Conscripts did quite well in that war but the people back home didn't like the idea of their sons being sent off to possibly die in a foreign war that was really no concern of Australia.  They were unable to vote to for their their fates.  This of course led to the voting age being reduced to 18, rather than 21.  Conscription is such a thorny subject no major Australian Political Party would touch it with a six foot pole.  Il Duce' Dutton is a lunatic but even he would be prevented from trying it by Scotty from Marketing. ::) ::)

There are those who argue that Communism needed to be opposed in Vietnam, after all in the JFK had warned on allowing the Soviets and Chinese to get Vietnamese tungsten. What really became evident in the process was the utter corruption of the South Vietnamese government. This doomed them in the eyes of their own people.

As predicted...Home Affairs' divisive but effective boss Mike Pezzullo sets his sights on Defence  ::) ::)

issuevoter wrote on Apr 28^th, 2021 at 9:01am:

Brian Ross wrote on Apr 13th, 2021 at 1:25pm: Vietnam proved that Conscription is a non-event for Australian society, unless Australia is facing an existential crisis.  Conscripts did quite well in that war but the people back home didn't like the idea of their sons being sent off to possibly die in a foreign war that was really no concern of Australia.  They were unable to vote to for their their fates.  This of course led to the voting age being reduced to 18, rather than 21.  Conscription is such a thorny subject no major Australian Political Party would touch it with a six foot pole.  Il Duce' Dutton is a lunatic but even he would be prevented from trying it by Scotty from Marketing. ::) ::) There are those who argue that Communism needed to be opposed in Vietnam, after all in the JFK had warned on allowing the Soviets and Chinese to get Vietnamese tungsten. What really became evident in the process was the utter corruption of the South Vietnamese government. This doomed them in the eyes of their own people.

Despite what the Americans and the Australia Right maintained, Communism was popular in Vietnam.  We were on a losing wicket, as the French before us, had proved.   We'd have been better off helping the Vietnamese to be rid of their corrupt, puppet regime, rather than fighting to maintain it.

Lest we forget
The war against our armed forces

The World of Woke is waging war on Australia’s armed forces, with the Labor premiers of Victoria and Western Australia in the frontline trenches. Victoria has had more than 50 days with no locally acquired Covid-19 cases and WA has only had 100 locally acquired cases during the entire pandemic yet both have dramatically restricted the commemoration of Anzac Day.

How ironic. We ask soldiers to fight in the most perilous theatres of war in the world and then pretend it is too dangerous to honour them because of a virus confined to a couple of hotels in our capital cities.

Andrews has a problem with the military. He wouldn’t use them to enforce quarantine, and now he wants to restrict Australians from paying their respects to the armed services for defending our freedom. He initially cancelled the Anzac service altogether but has now confined himself to limiting the march to just 5,500 people, on the same day as 75,000 AFL fans will cram into the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There are also nonsensical Covid restrictions forcing diggers to march in age groups rather than their serving battalions and requiring them to register online beforehand. It’s the same in WA where there will be a full house at the Optus Stadium for the football but a limit of only 10,000 people at King’s Park for the Anzac Day service.

New federal Defence Minister Peter Dutton however is valiantly fighting back by questioning the numbers. The claim that the rules are different because football fans are seated is absurd. First, there is no Covid anywhere in Australia. Second, the crowds are hardly levitating into the stadiums cross-legged, like fakirs on flying carpets – they have to stand to walk in and out. Third, both activities are outside where the risk of transmission is minimal, even supposing there was any Covid to transmit and fourth, Anzac ceremonies are quiet and reflective and far less likely to spread germs than raucous crowds of cheering fans.

Dutton has also pulled rank on the chief of the Australian Defence Force, Angus Campbell, overriding Campbell’s appalling decision to revoke a meritorious unit citation awarded to 3,000 special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan. As Dutton pointed out, it was disgraceful to punish the whole unit when most of the soldiers had shown extraordinary valour and some had given the ultimate sacrifice defending Australia’s values and interests and preventing terrorist attacks.

https://www.spectator.com.au/2021/04/lest-we-forget-3/

Dutton is proving good and effective once again.

Mr Dutton is moving rapidly to repair the fractured relationship between ADF members and the government. Two big Morrison government announcements this week would not have happened without his strong personal leadership: the decision to reverse the Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell’s, disgraceful decision to strip unit citations from over 3,000 special forces personnel because the Brereton inquiry found evidence of possible war crimes by a handful of them; and the decision to announce a royal commission into veterans’ suicide.

On the first, Mr Dutton rightly pointed out that it is wrong to tar all special forces soldiers with a brush of shame deserved by only a very few.  The stripping of unit citations, even though paused by order of the Prime Minister, was a body blow to the morale of not just special forces soldiers but to the whole ADF community. It harked back to the Vietnam years when, for too long, we as a society deliberately shamed and shunned veterans of that conflict. Thanks to Mr Dutton, the ADF can stand taller again.

The royal commission is outside his direct portfolio, but there is no way it would have happened without Mr Dutton’s strong support.

https://spectator.com.au/2021/04/peter-dutton-finally-makes-his-mark/

This past weekend, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton suggested that a conflict with China over Taiwan could not be discounted.  However, as Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz wrote some 200 years ago, “War is the continuation of politics by other means”.   

Were there to be conflict between China and America over Taiwan, Australia would have no choice but to follow America, including by ceasing food, energy and iron ore exports to China.  Were Australia to not follow and to try to maintain strategic neutrality, we would most likely lose the protection of America’s Pacific defence umbrella exposing Australia to even great threats and risks.

America’s and Australia’s defence preparedness and resolve is essential for preventing armed conflict, but it does not necessarily indicate the eventuality of conflict.  Yet paraphrasing Leon Trotsky, Australia may not be interested in a war for Taiwan, but if there was a war for Taiwan, it would be interested in Australia.


https://spectator.com.au/2021/04/if-you-want-peace-prepare-for-war/

This is a promising start: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/playing-it-frank-is-dutton-in-defence-for-the-long-haul-20210502-p57o8j.html?fbclid=IwAR3YvwHDllKw2aajuRajsUUXU2CxqTlWwhJo0WIyn-rDcwhMBFxLhbI3ZKU#comments

Belgarion wrote on May 5^th, 2021 at 8:16pm:

This is a promising start: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/playing-it-frank-is-dutton-in-defence-for-the-long-haul-20210502-p57o8j.html?fbclid=IwAR3YvwHDllKw2aajuRajsUUXU2CxqTlWwhJo0WIyn-rDcwhMBFxLhbI3ZKU#comments

Behind a paywall, Belgarion.  I cannot read the point you are making.  Care to quote what they are saying, please?

A bent copper as Defence Minister, what could go wrong?

Brian Ross wrote on May 5^th, 2021 at 9:49pm:

Belgarion wrote on May 5th, 2021 at 8:16pm: This is a promising start: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/playing-it-frank-is-dutton-in-defence-for-the-long-haul-20210502-p57o8j.html?fbclid=IwAR3YvwHDllKw2aajuRajsUUXU2CxqTlWwhJo0WIyn-rDcwhMBFxLhbI3ZKU#comments Behind a paywall, Belgarion.  I cannot read the point you are making.  Care to quote what they are saying, please?

“He comes to Townsville, we meet with a bunch of soldiers and senior officers. The first thing Peter did was to tell the cameraman to get lost. And then he said to all the senior officers: ‘You can leave as well’,” says Phil Thompson, the member for Herbert in north Queensland and a former soldier.

“He wanted to talk to the soldiers about what they needed from the government to do their job – how’s the kit, how’s the morale? That’s the first time any minister for defence has ever done that.”


Excellent.

Brian Ross wrote on May 5^th, 2021 at 9:49pm:

Belgarion wrote on May 5th, 2021 at 8:16pm: This is a promising start: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/playing-it-frank-is-dutton-in-defence-for-the-long-haul-20210502-p57o8j.html?fbclid=IwAR3YvwHDllKw2aajuRajsUUXU2CxqTlWwhJo0WIyn-rDcwhMBFxLhbI3ZKU#comments Behind a paywall, Belgarion.  I cannot read the point you are making.  Care to quote what they are saying, please?

"When Peter Dutton visited his first military base as Defence Minister last month, he had a remarkable message for senior military officers: leave the room.

He was at Lavarack Barracks in the garrison city of Townsville and he was on a mission. The objective was two-fold: begin lifting morale following the Brereton war crimes inquiry and find out what troops on the ground want from the government.

“He comes to Townsville, we meet with a bunch of soldiers and senior officers. The first thing Peter did was to tell the cameraman to get lost. And then he said to all the senior officers: ‘You can leave as well’,” says Phil Thompson, the member for Herbert in north Queensland and a former soldier.

“He wanted to talk to the soldiers about what they needed from the government to do their job – how’s the kit, how’s the morale? That’s the first time any minister for defence has ever done that.”.............

That's the interesting part.  The rest of the article is the usual political stuff.  The fact that the Defence Minister sat down with the troops without the media or senior officers present is unusual, but not unprecedented for politicians. I recall a couple of occasions when we had politicians at sea overnight, They ate with the junior rates with no officers or media present.  ( none was Defence Minister though)