The Editor

Sydney Morning Herald June 4, 2005

So General Cosgrove feels ‘fiercely protective’ of the people under his command (‘Operation protect, as SAS comes under fire’, Herald, June 4)?

But in losing his cool this week whilst defending the SAS against allegations of bungling & misconduct, the good General confirmed that outmoded & misguided concepts of leadership & governance still hold sway in the ADF, just as they do in the broader reaches of the defence & intelligence establishments & in the highest ranks of government.

The ADF, more than most organizations, needs a culture built around the values of trust, integrity, responsibility & accountability, in order to thrive & remain strong. Such values bind the members of any organization & underpin their common purpose, particularly when they are in harm’s way.

When it is suggested that members of an organization have acted contrary to its values, its reaction & that of its leadership are crucial. A failure to investigate allegations of misconduct quickly, scrupulously & transparently, with appropriate disciplinary action being taken if warranted, suggests that its value system is flawed & will ultimately result in the organization & its effectiveness being weakened.

Without suggesting that there is any basis to the current allegations against members of the SAS, or that General Cosgrove & the ADF are engaged in a cover-up, the absence of a full & transparent investigation puts not only the reputation of the SAS at risk, but that of the entire ADF.

To make the point: the ADF is still investigating undisclosed ‘allegations’ of torture & murder against members of the SAS dating back to its activities in East Timor in 1999. The original investigation lasted 31/2 years before the ADF finally ‘exonerated’ itself. The current investigation has been in progress for 18 months & still no progress or timeline for its conclusion has been announced.

General Cosgrove is right to be proud of the ADF, as we all are, & he is understandably ‘protective’ of his organization however, unless its members & leaders are held accountable & are seen to be held accountable for their actions, he is doing the organization a disservice.

Australians have witnessed a trail of cover-ups, dissembling & deceit over the past decade, ranging from the children overboard affair, Iraq, our Intelligence services & more recently the antics of DIMIA. And sadly, we’ve come to expect little else from our political leaders.

General Cosgrove has the opportunity to leave the ADF in a better state than he found it & in the interests of all its stakeholders, including the taxpayers, he should show true leadership & insist on higher standards than those observed by his political masters.

Surely such leadership would be a fitting legacy of General Cosgrove’s 40 years of service: a standard of leadership that he, the members of the ADF & all Australians could rightly be proud of.