Australian Defence Force

5 July 2007

The ADF gets Australian of the Year from The Australian, Jan 20:

You lead the cheersquad to send them to war in 2003; the war turns into a disaster of historic proportions; and now, out of guilt one presumes, you anoint them with some self-invented gong.

(The last time I took any notice of it, about 30 years ago, you gave it to Joh Bjelke-Petersen - what an honour for our servicepeople to be in that tradition.)

You'd have shown our soldiers far higher respect had you not helped shape public opinion behind a cause - now not only lost but disgraced - with which they will be associated for the rest of their lives.

They were young and idealistic and you used them.