An Australian bomber and its four missing crewmen have been identified 81 years after the plane went down in World War 2 in Papua New Guinea. The Royal Australian Air Force confirmed on Wednesday it had identified Beaufort Aircraft A9-186 from Number 100 Squadron, four years after the plane’s crashContinue Reading
A “catastrophic failure” in senior government and Defence leadership has led to a “senseless loss of life” in Australia’s military community, the man leading the Royal Commission into Australia’s military suicide crisis has said in scathing remarks delivered at the close of the three-year inquiry. Deaths by suicide have takenContinue Reading
The last witness called to testify before the Royal Commission Into Defence and Veteran Suicide is the man at the very top of Australia’s command chain: Australian Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell. General Campbell is appearing for a mammoth full day hearing at the commission, which is drilling intoContinue Reading
Australia’s defence personnel do not have access to enough professional mental health workers, the man leading the Defence department has warned, and simply throwing more money at the problem is not a viable solution. Department of Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty told the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide onContinue Reading
A mum who lost her veteran son to suicide has hit out at what she calls a “delay, deny, die” culture within the Australian Defence Force. Karen Bird warned bureaucratic sclerosis has fatal effects for soldiers, sailors and airmen suffering through mental health challenges. “These three words are well recognisedContinue Reading
The investigation into the suicide crisis roiling Australia’s military community has been “stymied and stonewalled” by defence and government bureaucracy, the man leading the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has said. In a furious speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, commission chair Nick Kaldas called onContinue Reading
On August 27, 23 US Marines were on board an MV-22B Osprey aircraft when it crashed over the Tiwi Islands off the Northern Territory during a routine military training exercise, taking the lives of three American Marines. The horror crash comes just one month on from the Talisman Sabre helicopterContinue Reading
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has told an inquiry into veteran suicide that former servicemen and women are “second guessed” and not supported by government agencies amid calls for a nationwide statutory body. The revelation comes as hearings under the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide enters a second year,Continue Reading
A mother who lost her son to suicide has harrowingly recounted how he went through a first-aid training course that forced him to re-live the death of his own baby boy. David Finney, a veteran who died by suicide in 2019, lost his first son to SIDS in 2007 whileContinue Reading
Late in the night on July 28, an MRH-90 Taipan helicopter ditched into the waters off North Queensland during the multi-nation Talisman Sabre military training exercise, taking the lives of four Australian soldiers. Australians are reeling and the Australian Defence Force Taipan helicopter fleet has been grounded. Here is whatContinue Reading