Howard warns against 'overreaction' to soldier video  John Howard says it should be left to the military to deal with the YouTube video (File photo). (Getty Images: Ian Waldie) Prime Minister John Howard has warned against an overreaction to a video showing Australian soldiers binge drinking and one person dressed in a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) outfit. Mr Howard says it should be left to the military to deal with the issue. "I just think we can overreact a bit with these things and people get into a lather of sweat and so on," he said. "Let's be sensible and understand that people will let off a bit of steam."
The video was posted by a former soldier on YouTube and has been condemned by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Attorney General Philip Ruddock. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says people should not pass judgement until the results of an inquiry are known. He says although some of their actions may be inappropriate, a lot of it could be blowing off steam. "There's always been a kind of irreverence, I suppose, which has underwritten the core values of our three services," he said. Labor response Labor has criticised Dr Nelson over his reaction to the YouTube video. Opposition defence spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon says Dr Nelson has made a mistake by trying to defend the indefensible. "In doing so, he's really reflecting on the tens of thousands of ADF personnel who at all times do the right thing," he said. He says the video would concern most people. Video 'abhorrent' The commander of the First Brigade at Robertson Barracks, Brigadier Craig Orme, says it appears the video was posted on the Internet by a former soldier. He says the footage was shot about three years ago in the Darwin area. "Let me be very, very clear here, the sorts of behaviour that was reflected in that video I find personally abhorrent," he said. "That is not the sort of behaviour that we encourage, it is not reflected in the army culture. "We in no way, shape or form support that type of behaviour and I'm particularly disappointed that soldiers in the Australian Army would've been performing that sort of thing." Source ----------------------------------------------- PM condones - a longstanding Australian army culture of racism Some 'KKK' soldiers still serving, ADF admits Some of the Darwin soldiers who appeared in a video featuring wild drinking games, with one dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman, are still serving in the Australian army. Brigadier Craig Orme, commander of Darwin's 1st Brigade, said the video had been shot by a now former member of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) about three years ago at Darwin's Robertson Barracks. "Some of the people involved are still serving but a significant number have left the service," Brigadier Orme said. He said the ADF had been informed on Friday of the video's existence on the website YouTube and immediately did a quick assessment of the situation, which had revealed who was involved and when the video was made. A broader inquiry would now be conducted to establish what further action would be taken against those involved, he said. "The inquiry will give us the details we need to take further action," he said. Brigadier Orme said the behaviour was "not in the least" common in the defence forces, describing it as "abhorrent and inappropriate". "It's a terrible thing - it reflects badly and we don't tolerate it," he said. "I don't believe it's behaviour that's current now and even three years ago it was an isolated incident." The Brigadier said the video had now been removed from the website. "The individual who posted it, who's no longer serving, has chosen to remove it from the website," he said. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said he would wait for the chief of army to investigate the matter. "Let's just wait until the chief of army and the military investigate the matter before we start jumping to conclusions and start to criticise the men who appear to have been involved," he told ABC radio. "I suspect a lot of it is letting off steam and a bit of larrikin irreverence and I also suspect some of it has crossed the line and is quite inappropriate and the chief of army will deal with appropriately and I look forward to receiving his report." The video, titled My Experience in the Australian Army, showed a group of young recruits playing drinking games and vomiting. Some were in army uniform, and an image of one dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman was flashed repeatedly through the footage, which was set to rock music. AAP
Army investigates website's KKK links
Posted Tue Feb 8, 2005 9:12pm AEDT
Updated Wed Feb 9, 2005 6:54am AEDT
Source
The Australian Defence Force is investigating a racist website, allegedly set up by a soldier at the Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.
The website, which contained links to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and anti-religious material, has been shut down.
Commander of the 3rd Brigade, Brigadier Mick Slater, says the soldier is still on duty pending further inquiries.
He says while there were links to the Ku Klux Klan, the site did not contain material promoting the group.
"I do know that there were both images and words of a racially discriminating nature," Brig Slater said.
"There was anti-religious material on there and there were links to other websites such as the KKK, but there was no KKK material I think on that site."
The publication of a photograph in November last year of Australian soldiers posing as members of the Klu Klux Klan with Aboriginal service personnel at the Lavarack Barracks sparked criticism of the armed forces over the treatment of Aborigines.
In May last year, six soldiers from the same barracks were found guilty of cruelty to animals after they tortured and killed a litter of kittens.
Further investigation of KKK army photo underway
PM - Thursday, 11 November , 2004 18:30:02
Reporter: Alexandra Kirk
PETER CAVE: From the Prime Minister down, there's been widespread condemnation today of Australian soldiers who posed for a photograph dressed as Ku Klux Klan members, while young black recruits sat in front of them.
Mr Howard, the Chief of the Defence Force and the Chief of the Army have all expressed their disgust.
The army investigated the incident, which occurred at the country's biggest army barracks in Townsville, just before the soldiers were deployed to East Timor in 2000.
The official report found the incidents to be "jovial banter" and that the photo in poor taste, but no further action was taken, and some of the officers behind the stunt have since been promoted.
But the Defence Chief, General Peter Cosgrove, has revealed another investigation is now underway.
Alexandra Kirk reports from Canberra.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: The Prime Minister says the photograph of soldiers with hoods on, taken on the parade ground of Lavarack barracks in Townsville, just before leaving for East Timor, is in very bad taste and not a joke because it involves an abhorrent organisation like the Ku Klux Klan.
For Defence Force Chief, General Peter Cosgrove, it's offensive, inappropriate and galling.
Army Chief, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, agrees.
PETER LEAHY: The photograph that appeared on the front page of a newspaper this morning is just deplorable. We're appalled by the behaviour that brought this photograph about. We're disgusted to think that soldiers can still think that behaviour of this intolerable nature – they can get away with it.
Let me just say, though, that we should deal with this as a prank.
The consequences, though, are very, very serious.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: The photographer, Richard Frayley, who's taken photos at Lavarack since the Vietnam War, says going-away photo shoots usually have a fun shot, this one was no different, and he didn't get any sense of racist overtones.
RICHARD FRAYLEY: No … well, I mean, if you thought about the Klu Klux Klan, probably yes but I mean, it was not meant that way. There was no malice in it. Everybody was laughing and joking. If you could get hold of the photo and have a look, everybody's got a smile on their face.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: Mr Frayley says the military's demanded no more "fun photos".
General Leahy says it wasn't a fun photo. They got it wrong, with deplorable consequences.
But the official investigation found the incidents to be quote ''jovial banter", the photo in poor taste but no further action was taken.
Labor's Defence personnel spokesman, Arch Bevis, says it's the latest in a long line of improper activities.
ARCH BEVIS: This is disgraceful behaviour, and sadly it's not an isolated incident.
And the reports that this matter was not investigated for some time, and then an investigation, presumably by a senior officer, thought that it was a joke, that it was high jinks, demonstrates that we've got a cultural problem here.
This is not an isolated solider. These are people who think this sort of conduct, degrading and abusive conduct, is acceptable in the military. It's not.
PETER LEAHY: Soldiers have been held accountable, and action has been taken against them.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: General Leahy says soldiers involved with the photo were given extra equity and diversity training. But there's been another complaint and a second investigation will review the appropriateness of the action.
PETER LEAHY: No one had brought it to our attention. The soldiers thought it was a prank at the time. In 2003 it was brought to our attention. The unit involved acted immediately. Once it was brought to the attention of army headquarters, we've acted immediately, and there's a second investigation going on now.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission's also investigating a complaint.
The local Federal Liberal MP, Peter Lindsay, denies there's any core of racism at Lavarack.
PETER LINDSAY: These are outrageous allegations, and should just be treated with the contempt they deserve. I'm going to quote the photographer who took the picture, and he is adamant on the day the photograph was taken it was just a fun thing before the troops went overseas. There was absolutely no context of racism.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: But do you regard putting hoods on and dressing up as a Ku Klux Klan is just a fun thing?
PETER LINDSAY: That's another matter. Members of the defence force have a higher duty to abide by standards that the normal community wouldn't abide, necessarily, abide by.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: So what do you say about the photo, then?
PETER LINDSAY: It should never have been taken, and everybody would agree with that, but it's the sort of thing that out in the general community nobody would even turn a hair at. You go to a buck's party, and you see that sort of thing done, and as long as it's understood in the context that it was taken, people don't take offence. But it shouldn't happen in the defence force, and that photograph should never have been taken.
PETER CAVE: The Federal Liberal MP for the seat of Herbert, Peter Lindsay.
Chief of Army to investigate KKK scandal By Luke McIlveen
13 November 2004 - The image of soldiers dressed as the Ku Klux Klan betrayed the Australian Army's commitment to a "fair go" and destroyed the memory of black and white soldiers who fought together in war, the Department of Defence said yesterday. In its first detailed response to the KKK scandal engulfing Australia's biggest military barracks in Townsville, Defence said claims of chronic racism in the ranks would be investigated at the very top. "It goes against the values and ethos of the Australian army," the department said in a preliminary report released yesterday. "The army actively promotes a fair go for all and encourages soldiers to speak out if they feel they have been vilified, or the subject of any unacceptable behaviour, so it can be dealt with." The picture of hooded soldiers taunting their black comrades sent shockwaves through the community this week. Taken three weeks before the 1RAR Delta Company was deployed to Timor from Townsville's Lavarack Barracks, the image showed 21 white soldiers dressed in KKK-style hoods with four dark-skinned soldiers sitting on the ground in front of them. One of the victims of the joke tried to hang himself at the barracks early last year after racial bullying at the hands of his comrades. An internal inquiry into the young private's claims was conducted by a major from the 1st Royal Australian Regiment, leading many to believe it would be a whitewash from the start. Despite interviewing the dark-skinned recruit while he was in a hospital bed on suicide watch, the major found no evidence that he had suffered from anything more serious than "jovial banter". "Unit level investigations into the circumstances behind the photograph were undertaken in 2003 and action was taken at that time," Defence said in its statement. "The soldiers were required to undergo further equity and diversity training and a number of soldiers wrote apologies to the unit." An Aboriginal soldier came forward after the picture was published claiming he was once locked in a cell at Lavarack Barracks and given a piece of rope fashioned into a noose. Defence chief Peter Cosgrove ordered a second investigation into the photograph and other forms of racism. The new inquiry will be headed by Chief of Army Peter Leahy, who is based in Canberra. The department said the picture destroyed the fine work Australian soldiers – black and white – had done in past wars while fighting together. "The Australian Army has a long and proud history of soldiers from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures fighting side by side on the battlefield in the service to their nation," the department said. "This image is an insult to the memory of all soldiers past and present who represent Australia's cultural diversity." Source: Brisbane Courier Mail related links :
Further information: law and justice issues page - includes
news index and external links - ENIAR
Army punishes 'KKK officers'
By staff writers | June 24, 2005
SEVERAL Australian Army officers will be disciplined over the 2003 photograph that showed soldiers in Ku Klux Klan-style white hoods, the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Peter Leahy said today.
Those facing discipline include a senior army officer who first investigated the incident but failed to blame or punish any soldiers for the racist stunt.
The photograph was published by The Daily Telegraph on Remembrance Day last year and showed Aboriginal and other dark-skinned soldiers forced to sit as white troops in hoods stood menacingly behind them.
Announcing the findings of the second inquiry into the incident, Lt-Gen Leahy said today: "This type of behaviour has no place in the army. We cannot, should not and will not tolerate it."
The stunt was reported as being part of "initiation rituals" masterminded by white soldiers at Lavarack barracks in Townsville - Australia's biggest army compound. The soldiers involved escaped punishment and, in some cases, were even promoted.
The scandal deepened when victims of racist abuse prepared to launch a civil action against the army over the KKK photograph and other acts of bastardisation.
Today, Lt-Gen Leahy said action would be taken against three officers, in particular: the officer who organised the photograph, the officer to whom the incident was reported and the officer who conducted the first inquiry.
"Regardless of the intent of these types of incidents, they can not be in any way excused," Lt-Gen Leahy said. "The Australian Army takes any incident of harassment or discrimination very seriously."
The KKK ritual took place on the parade ground at Lavarack in September 2000, just weeks before the 1RAR battalion's Delta Company was deployed to East Timor.
The image was reportedly sold to 1RAR troops for $10 a copy.
One of the soldiers shown in the photograph wearing a hood told The Daily Telegraph he was ordered to take part in the stunt by his superiors and now regretted it.
"I was disgusted at the time and I'm still disgusted. I wanted a picture to put on my wall that would make me proud to serve my country but there was no way I was putting this horrible image on my wall," the soldier said at the time.
During the internal investigation in 2003, black soldiers told their superiors their equipment had been defaced with racist graffiti.
They were frequently called "black c...s" and several of them were given nicknames such as "shit skin", "Abo" and "Cathy Freeman", the Telegraph reported.
One dark-skinned soldier had the life-saving armour taken out of his flak jacket by other platoon members while conducting dangerous patrols in East Timor.
While the army found the photograph to be in poor taste, no further action was taken and the officers behind the stunt now hold senior positions in the military.
The army's first official report found the incidents to be nothing more than "jovial banter".
Incorporating a report from The Daily Telegraph's Luke McIlveen
 Quote this article on your site | Views: 152 | Print | E-mail
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved |
