Defence Magazine

Main photo: Defence Policy advisor Andrew Chandler on the ground in Aceh. Photo by Corporal Cameron Jamieson, Army newspaper
Inset: Chris Birrer, left, and Greta Nabbs - part of the International Policy team on Operation Sumatra Assist. Photo by David Sibley, Defence magazine

The phone rang at 6.45am on Monday, December 27, in the Canberra home of Chris Birrer.

It was the First Assistant Secretary International Policy, Stephanie Foster. The message was short - go to Russell Offices for an emergency Strategic Command Group about the tsunami at 8.15am.

For Mr Birrer, who was the acting Assistant Secretary Asia in International Policy Division (IP), it was a sudden end to the post- Christmas stand-down period.

It was the first he had heard that the tsunami had devastated the nations around the Indian Ocean.

He was the first of an initial team which was to number eight IP staff within a few days, including Ms Foster and Director Indonesia Paul Iozzi, who were at the coalface Defence headquarters providing crucial policy advice and coordination during the first two weeks of the Government's response the tsunami crisis.

"In the first meeting on December 27, the CDF outlined the situation as information was coming in," Mr Birrer says.

"These first reports indicated that quite dire situation was emerging in Aceh but that time, while no decision had yet been made on where Australian deployments would occur, it had been recognised there would be a need for humanitarian assistance."

From that initial meeting, CDF General Peter Cosgrove, Mr Birrer and members of Strategic Operations Division went to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) to attend the first Interdepartmental Emergency Task Force meeting called as a result of the disaster.

On the same day, in central Victoria while visiting her sick mother during the stand down period, IP's Assistant Director Indonesia Greta Nabbs heard the tsunami news.

As the scale of the devastation became apparent over the next two days, she knew that it was a question of when, not if, she would be recalled to work.

"Chris called me and asked me when I could come back in. ... I came back [on January 2] and was told they needed policy support at the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Get yourself ready and get over there as quickly as possible," she says.

"... I naturally thought there would be a need for Defence assets and for IP staff to be called back to coordinate interagency processes. I guess I thought because I have language skills that there may be a need for someone like me to support and supplement the staff being sent up to Medan and Banda Aceh."

Ms Nabbs arrived in Indonesia on January 6 to stand in as policy advisor to the Head of Australian Defence Staff, Brigadier Ken Brownrigg. This followed the deployment of Andrew Chandler to the headquarters of Combined Joint Task Force 629 in Medan, Sumatra, to act as the advisor to its commander, Brigadier Dave Chalmers.

Back in Canberra, the eight-person team led by Ms Foster and Mr Birrer was coordinating the flow of information to and from the Defence Attaches in the affected countries, especially in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

"The Malaysian Government was quite important to us because we ended up using the Malaysian Air Force base at Butterworth as a logistic hub to support the operation," Mr Birrer says.

"In Bangkok, our Defence Attaché [Group Captain Chris White] played a very important role in the consular aspects, accounting for the Australians affected in Phuket, and assisting the AFP Disaster Identification team which was working with identification teams from a number of countries to identify the corpses of victims in Phuket."

IP was working continually with Strategic Operations Division and Joint Operations Command as new policy issues arose out of the constant flow of information back from Indonesia.

The division was also providing information to Canberra-based Defence Attaches of other countries involved in the international humanitarian response, and encouraging potential contributors to coordinate with the Indonesian Government.

"We were beginning by 7am each morning, reviewing the information that had come over night before beginning the cycle of meetings for the days, informing the decision-makers and then acting upon the decisions made," he says.

In Jakarta, Ms Nabbs worked closely with the ADF supplementation team, manning the busy operations room in the Jakarta embassy for two weeks before returning to Canberra. She was in the thick of policy issues, risk mitigation and managing the crucial bilateral relationship with the Indonesians.

"My role was essentially working on maintaining the momentum and excellent cooperation that had been forged with the TNI [Indonesian military] and the Indonesian Government," she says.

"We had to develop cultural sensitivities briefs to make sure our personnel knew the cultural and religious dimensions that they were entering into Aceh and that they maintained the close and positive relationship with the Indonesians."

After two weeks of frenetic activity, the tempo slowed as the ADF's operations in the tsunami-affected nations settled into a routine. Mr Birrer returned to his position as Director North and South Asia and Ms Nabbs returned to Canberra on January 22.

Now Acting Director Indonesia, she is continuing to work on maintaining the Defence relationship with Indonesia in addition to any new issues that arise from the continuing Operation Sumatra Assist deployment.

Both of them look at Defence's contribution to the whole-of-government tsunami response with professional pride.

"I think we respond very well as a department with our whole-of-government approach," Ms Nabbs says.

"The collaboration and cooperation between JOC, SOD and IP means when there is a crisis, something is stood up very quickly."

Mr Birrer agrees, saying regardless of what time of year it is or what the latest crisis is, the system operates and the agencies work together because of the existing interdepartmental relationships.

"An important aspect of IP Division is that habit of whole-of-government consultation and coordination that we have and looking at issues from a whole-of-government perspective," he says.

"In that sense, we add value in helping the whole of government machinery work and attempting to shape that where appropriate."

Defence

Special Report

Calm in the midst of the storm

From the moment the tsunami hit, the staff of International Policy Division knew they would be involved, delivering well-oiled policy and coordination. David Sibley reports.