RESPONSIBILITY

By David Sibley

Prime Minister John Howard at the dedication of the national Air Force memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra in November 2002.

Photo by SGT Bill Guthrie

There is a danger that the Australian community thinks service in the ADF is casualty-free, according to Prime Minister John Howard.

In his exclusive interview with the Service newspapers, Mr Howard said although the community “generically” understood the dangers and conditions of operational service, individual dangers had probably been forgotten.

“We have had casualties, we’ve had the tragic death of [Sergeant] Andrew Russell [SASR] in Afghanistan and a number of people wounded and, of course, the death of the nine personnel in the Sea King [on Nias Island in Indonesia during Operation Sumatra Assist],” he said.

“There is a danger that the Australian community thinks that it’s now become casualty-free service – that’s not the case, that’s always a worry.

“But one of the reasons we have had low casualties is that we are very careful and conservative in the way we deploy our troops.

“We sent our troops early to Iraq, partly so they could acclimatise themselves, and that helped.
“It’s not just good fortune; it’s also very good planning and very good training.”

If a death occurred on any recent deployment, Mr Howard said the media would have to finely balance their reports by showing proper respect, demonstrating understanding and expressing compassion.

“On the other hand, … unfortunately casualties are part of service life and we have to strike a balance,” he said.
“I personally regard the life of every serviceman and woman as special and very important.

“I feel very much for families who have lost anybody in the Services, I’ve spent time with them when it’s happened and I feel very deeply because there’s something different about losing your life in the service of your country from losing your life as a civilian.”

Mr Howard said it would be a tragedy if a death in the service of Australia occurred, with the community owing a “particular debt” to those who fell.

“I feel a particular responsibility and desire to represent and express that to those that are grieving,” he said.

“In the end, I accept responsibility for every deployment because I am the Prime Minister – none of them would have occurred but for me and I do accept very direct personal responsibility and I feel that in a very direct way.”

Mr Howard said he had not been reluctant at any time to deploy the ADF.

“I have always thought the ADF has been ready and history has vindicated that judgment,” he said.

“They’ve performed very impressively in East Timor and the Solomons, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in many individual things they have done – the Pong Su, the Tampa … and magnificently in Aceh, so they really have done a first-class job.”

The Prime Minister, who received spontaneous applause from SASR troopers at their farewell for the new Afghanistan deployment, said he was always touched by any support and reaction he received.

“I’ve tried, in the time I’ve been Prime Minister, to support our troops as they deserve support,” he said.

“In the end, they put their lives on the line for us and I’m the bloke in the end who is responsible for their deployment.

“I feel that responsibility very directly and I try and give all the support I can.”

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Pay should be ‘competitive’

By David Sibley

PAY and conditions of service for ADF personnel should always be “competitive”, Prime Minister John Howard has said.

In his exclusive interview with the Service newspapers, Mr Howard said pay and conditions had to be kept under review.

“They always have to be kept competitive, all the more so at a time when the economy is strong,” he said.

“There are more jobs in many areas than there are [people] to fill them – it’s an employees’ market.

“The demands of Service life have never been easy on husbands and wives … therefore employment for your spouse is a big factor and more acutely so now than 20 years ago. It’s a never-ending battle to remain competitive and it’s the Government’s responsibility to make sure pay and conditions are competitive.”

It was also important to continue to support the families of deployed personnel.

“After all, most people join the ADF to experience service life,” Mr Howard said.

“Whenever I’ve spoken to men and women going overseas, they’re looking forward to it.

“That was the attitude I encountered [at the SASR farewell on August 24] and that was the attitude in Darwin when I saw off the Al-Muthanna Task Group some months earlier.

“A couple of weeks ago [when he visited Iraq] they retained that tremendous enthusiasm and that’s very gratifying.”

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Blood ties to World War I

By David Sibley

ALTHOUGH Prime Minister John Howard has not served in the ADF, his family has strong ties to the bloody national baptism Australia endured in World War I.

Unusually, both Mr Howard’s father and grandfather served in the Great War on the Western Front in Belgium and France as members of the 1st Australian Imperial Force.

Mr Howard’s father, Lyall, enlisted in the 3rd Pioneer Battalion of the 3rd Division. His grandfather, Walter, served in the 55th Battalion of the 5th Division.

“My father was gassed at Messine Ridge – he recovered obviously; here I am,” he said.

Lyall Howard, who died when his son was 16, did talk “a little bit” about his wartime experiences.

“He thought Australian soldiers were the best,” Mr Howard said. “He used to march on Anzac Day … in fact, he marched until the year before he died, he was 59 when he died.

“I used to go and watch him march. He marched in Sydney; most of his mates [from the battalion] had come from south-east Queensland because he grew up in the northern rivers area.”

Mr Howard said it was quite remarkable that Australia put 380,000 men into uniform at a time when the male population was only 2.5 million during World War I.

“It was extraordinary, unbelievable,” he said. “… I think those people who volunteer – any [military member] who volunteers – does a terrific job.”

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Take the fight to terror

By David Sibley

IF THE ADF does not fight terror overseas then it’s likely to become a menace in Australia, according to Prime Minister John Howard.

In his exclusive interview with the Service newspapers, Mr Howard said that if a member of the ADF had doubts about serving in the international Coalition against terror, he would tell that person the terrorist threat was different to past threats.

“It’s very lethal and if we don’t fight it where we can, distant from Australia, it’s likely, in time, to become a greater menace in our own country,” he said.

“I think the great value of fighting in, say, Afghanistan is that if we can support the democratically elected government of Afghanistan and demonstrate to the world the democratic alternative, in the face of terrorist conduct, can survive, I think it’s a huge reminder that terrorism can be beaten.

“But nobody should imagine that terrorism is going to go away in a hurry and it has to be fought wherever we find it.

“I certainly believe that what’s happening with the Coalition operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq is very important.”

Mr Howard agreed that when he became Prime Minister in 1996, there was no way known he could have foreseen the events that led Australia into the war.

“I would not have expected we would have been engaged in so many of these operations and it just happened – I certainly did not want it or expect it,” he said.

Before the Interfet operation in East Timor in 1999, the ADF had gained experience through peacekeeping operations in Rwanda, Somalia, Namibia and Cambodia.

“…We changed the policy towards East Timor, East Timor was then part of Indonesia – there was no prospect of any ballot or otherwise to change that.

“We had a policy of hands off, non-intervention policy in the Pacific – those last two policies my Government changed, rightly in my opinion, and [then] the war on terror came upon us.”

 

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