2 SQN SAS PETITION
This time it’s personal, for me and all my mates in 2SQN SASR! The petition below is now live and will remain open until 17 November. I’m asking as many of my fellow Australians as possible to read, go to the website:
https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions
Search for EN3407 and add your signature if you agree. You will not be identified publically by adding your name. With thanks.
Petition number: EN3407 (Please quote in future correspondence)
Date submitted: 25/09/2021
Terms:
Reason: 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.
Request:
We, therefore, ask the House to restore 2 Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment, to the Australian Army’s Order of Battle.
Your petition was considered by the Standing Committee on Petitions at a recent meeting and was found to meet the petition requirements. It is now available for signature online.
Signatures open: 20/10/2021
Signatures close: 17/11/2021
Your petition can be viewed here:
https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions
You can locate your petition by searching for your name or the petition number in the search bar.
Following the close of the signature period, your petition will be presented in the House and may be referred to the relevant Minister based on the subject of your petition terms. We will let you know when this happens.
It is a draconian management move to punish all because of the perceived actions of a few. What would be the out come if all those so fare accused of misdeeds, are found to have no case to answer? It has become obvious that the current leadership is lacking in abilities to think past their own failings.