Senior leaders in the Australian Defense Force are facing accusations they have “cultural issues” that need to be addressed and challenged.
Defense Secretary Richard Marles has revealed that he believes there are some “cultural issues within senior leadership” in his department. Sky News Australia political editor Andrew Clennell asked the Defense Minister about his closed-door meeting with Defense Minister Greg Moriarty and Chief of Defense Forces Angus Campbell, calling for “excellence” from his department. “What we need to see in terms of the leadership of the Australian Defense Force and the Department of Defence, and I'm not just talking about the two leaders (Mr Moriarty and Mr Campbell), but the broader leadership is that all our work has been done with excellence,” Mr Marles told Sky News Australia. “This advice came at the right time. This advice is accurate. “We expect the same amount of excellence from ourselves as we would expect from someone in the infantry or someone maintaining an aircraft where there is excellence and complete competence. “Because I think there are cultural issues within senior leadership, ADF general command and management, which need To a challenge.” “I had full cooperation from both the Minister of Defense and the Civil Defense Forces. There is a culture issue and we must strive to have a culture of absolute excellence.”
The Defense Secretary has come under pressure over reports that he has become increasingly frustrated with his department, so much so that he summoned the minister, Greg Moriarty, and the chief of the Defense Forces, Angus Campbell, for a closed-door meeting late last year to demand the formation of a government. A culture of excellence is better.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr. Marles downplayed the importance of the conversation, but said he “certainly” expected excellence from his administration.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said Australian Democratic Forces commander Angus Campbell was on the same page as he spoke about culture. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ullmann
“I think what we need to see in terms of the leadership of the Australian Defense Force and the Department of Defence, and I'm not just talking about the two commanders, but the broader leadership, is that everything we do is done through excellence,” he told Sky News.
“This advice is timely, this advice is accurate, and we expect the same amount of excellence from ourselves as we would from someone in the infantry or someone maintaining an aircraft, where there is excellence and complete competence.”
Mr Marles also spoke to Defense Minister Greg Moriarty. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ullmann
James Patterson, the opposition spokesman for home affairs, said Marles' comments appeared to be “a general vote of no confidence in his department and the military leadership of our defense forces”.
“This is very worrying,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.
“If he has confidence in them. He shouldn’t undermine them publicly by saying that.”
Mr. Marles pointed to the rotation of ministers in the coalition government as a reason for low morale. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Jay Gerard
Mr Marles had said that cultural issues within senior leadership, the ADF and wider departmental leadership “need to be challenged”.
He added that morale within the ministry had deteriorated due to the previous coalition government, pointing out the possibility of rotating defense ministers within a short period of time.
“I also made that observation…I mean, when you have six, seven different defense secretaries moving through the department over the course of nine years, that has an impact on morale. It has had an impact on morale,” he said.
“When you go out and make all these fancy ads, worth forty-five billion dollars, and there's no money behind it, obviously it's going to have an impact on morale. And it has.
“I mean, is it going to leave the country with the oldest navy sailing since the end of World War II, which is what the previous government did, that is going to affect morale.
“So I think there are those issues within the ADF and within the administration. And I can understand how that happened. However, moving forward, we need to address that culture.”
