Retired Army chief Lieutenant General David Morrison denied there was a “conspiracy” surrounding his announcement of investigations into the so-called Jedi Council sex ring two years prior.
Ten days after his retirement, Lt Gen Morrison spoke to Australian Story about the challenges he faced trying to overhaul the sexist culture in the Australian Army, including dealing with the Jedi Council scandal. The Jedi Council was the name adopted by a group of serving Army members, including one reservist, which was investigated by police and the military for sharing offensive and sexually explicit emails using a defence email system. At the time, Lt Gen Morrison called the emails “appalling”, “derogatory” and “demeaning”.
At the time? Try a year later!
On the day he went public about the accusations against the group, the Army boss made a YouTube address telling troops there was “no place” for army members who “exploit and demean” their colleagues and telling them to behave or “get out”. The speech went viral, attracting attention for its bold message and Lt Gen Morrison’s no-nonsense delivery.
He has now hit back at claims he may have known about the accusations against Army personnel a year earlier than he previously stated. Lt Gen Morrison has always maintained he learnt about the police investigation in April 2013.
Morrison:
“It was only in 2013 that … the dimensions of what had occurred were defined enough for me as a service chief to then commence taking action, and I did.”
However, the retired Army chief told the ABC a senior staffer in his office received a phone call from New South Wales Police about the investigation in July 2012, almost a year before the Army boss went public with the scandal. He said his staffer was told by police that “an individual, a reservist, was being considered for prosecution by the New South Wales Police, for inappropriate use of an internet provider”, but that the staffer did not think it was serious enough to pass on to his superior. “In the hurly burly of all the things that happen in the office of the Chief of Army, that wasn’t something that he thought was important enough to bring to my attention,” Lt Gen Morrison said.
Lawyer John Sutton acted for a number of soldiers who were sacked in relation to their connection to the Jedi Council. Mr Sutton raised questions about the retired Army boss’s version of events during an interview with Channel 7 in January.
“It really does beggar belief to think that he wouldn’t have been told and he wouldn’t have been informed of such a dramatic and important issue going on in his own organisation,” Mr Sutton said.
Morrison:
“The staff member made “the right decision because there was nothing to go on then in 2012. It was only in 2013 that … the dimensions of what had occurred were defined enough for me as a service chief to then commence taking action, and I did. There was no conspiracy here.”
Hastings Frederickson (below), the (Army) reservist who sent graphic emails in July 2010 to members of the Jedi Council, previously worked at the Army’s Special Operations Command. He has since pleaded guilty to three charges of using a carriage service to cause offence and received a suspended sentence earlier this year.
Charges were dropped against two other Army members. Yet the Army (summarily) sacked a number of soldiers in connection with the scandal.
David Morrison was named 2016 Australian of the Year. Some veterans have accused David Morrison of turning his back on Defence personnel. Anger is growing in the veterans’ community over the appointment of former Army Chief David Morrison as Australian of the Year. An online petition is now calling on him to consider resigning his new position.
“When you can get on at an Australia Day speech and discuss the republic and not allude to veterans’ issues when he had, I think it’s 13 soldiers who were actually killed overseas while he was Chief of Army, it’s just turning your back on these people — the ones who have come back and are suffering mental and physical issues,” Mr Shafran said. “There is something that is really quite sickening about that.”
The 20-year Army veteran said his online petition had already attracted hundreds of signatures from others in the ADF community.
“It’s essentially calling for the resignation of David Morrison as Australian of the Year and also for him to relinquish the title of General, because he, in my opinion, demonstrated a lack of leadership by not alluding to veterans issues on his pre-Australia Day speech when he at the same time alluded to the republic,” he said.
The Defence Force Welfare Association said it had been inundated with correspondence from members who were angry at General Morrison’s approach.
“There seems to be a general view that perhaps he’s gone too far in his quest for diversity and respect amongst ADF members who perhaps hold different views on lifestyles and religion and those sorts of issues,” DFWA president David Jamison said.
“He’s perhaps causing division rather than unity within the ADF and the veteran community.” Mr Jamison said he believed it was time for General Morrison to reach out to his former colleagues in his new position as Australian of the Year. “He’s got to come out and be a champion for veterans and the nation’s obligations to its service people and its former service people,” he said.
Further Reading and References:
[1] ‘Former Army chief David Morrison denies ‘conspiracy’ surrounding timing of Jedi Council investigation‘, 25th May 2015, by Lisa McGregor, ABC media, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-25/former-army-chief-david-morrison-denies-jedi-council-conspiracy/6493394
[2] ‘David Morrison: War veterans attack ‘sickening’ Australian of the Year choice‘, 29th January 2016, by Andrew Greene, Defence Reporter, PM programme, ABC media, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-29/david-morrison-war-veterans-upset-with-australian-of-the-year/7125952
