The decision in November 2020 to extinguish 2SQN from the Army's Order of Battle (ORBAT) in an early response to the Brereton Report inflicted group punishment on all past and present members of that proud unit for alleged crimes that are yet to be tested in a court of law. Group punishment is invariably an abhorrent and arbitrary measure, tainting the entirety for the alleged crimes of the few. The repugnant nature of group punishment is compounded in this case by being applied prematurely and selectively against the rank and file while failing to censure the senior commanders who had a personal responsibility for oversight when alleged crimes were committed. Worse still, the punishment has been applied retrospectively. 2SQN’s removal from the ORBAT casts doubt on the honour, sacrifice and reputation of 2SQN veterans dating back to the unit’s establishment in 1964. Hundreds of former members who have served in the squadron since that time are now forever shamed and linked to untested crimes allegedly committed by the few in the past decade. We are firmly in favour of punishment where wrongdoing is proven, but the disproportionate sweep of this group punishment is an overreach. The shaming of innocents through the generations is no way to address the matters raised in the Brereton Report. 2SQN SASR must be restored to the ORBAT as a matter of natural justice for all.
We therefore ask the House to restore 2 Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment, to the Australian Army’s Order of Battle.
Signature count: | 2635 |
Closing date for signatures: | 17 November 2021 12:59 PM (AEST)(Closed) |