Jane Prenctice used her maiden speech to Federal Parliament yesterday to speak out on behalf of soldiers. He son is an army lieutenant. She says that Diggers cannot be expected to make snap legal decisions.
“If we put Australian troops into the heat of battle and expect them to take enormous risks on our behalf we cannot expect them to be split-second lawyers as well” she said. “We must recognise that our troops go to war on the instructions of our Government. They must be able to do their job in accordance with the rules of engagement without having to worry about whether those rules might be interpreted differently at a later time.” She said the rules must be “crystal clear” and “our support strong”. “If this nation fails to cloak our soldiers with the full protection of the law when they go into battle we fail them all” she said.
She also paid tribute to three soldiers based at the Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera who died in Afghanistan in recent months.