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New medal for KIA's
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Their Service . . . . Our Heritage
DUTY FIRST
the motto of the Royal Australian Regiment
the motto of the Royal Australian Regiment
Copyright © 2010 www.4rarassociationsaustralia.com
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New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory . . . Northern Territory . . . Queensland . . . South Australia . . . Tasmania . . . Victoria . . . Western Australia
4 RAR Associations of Australia
The Fighting Fourth
MALAYA / SARAWAK - SOUTH VIETNAM - TIMOR & TIMOR LESTE - IRAQ - AFGHANISTAN
A New Medal for Australian Defence Force Personnel Killed in Action While Serving Overseas.
On Wednesday 21 July 2010 Gary Chad and Alan Price visited Mr Stuart Robert MP, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence at his offices in Oxenford, Qld. Mr Robert was a former Army officer who has served with 6 RAR and is an Honorary Member of the 4 RAR Association, Qld. The purpose of the visit was to present a submission recommending that a new medal be created to be awarded to the next of kin of those killed in action and a variation in design to be awarded to those wounded in action. Gary and Alan had worked on a detailed submission for some two weeks prior and had designed a medal riband which could satisfy both awards. In the meantime Gary had received the support of Mr Ross Thompson, a Qld Courier-Mail newspaper journalist and an article appeared in that newspaper publicising Gary’s quest.
The submission itself was a follow on from Gary’s determined efforts during the 1990s for such a medal or medals to be created.
Gary and Alan received an unexpected surprise from Mr Robert when he confided to them that the Liberal National Party, very much in response to Gary’s previous letters on the subject, was in the process of announcing that the Liberal National Party had already decided that such a medal was to be introduced and Mr Robert showed us the intended design of a medal to be created for presentation to the next of kin of those killed in action since the end of World War Two. The medal design or even the award of the medal has not yet been approved and that may even depend on the election results but it is really a splendid medal attached to an appropriate neck band. The award is of a very special design which is to worn around the neck, as are the senior awards of the Order of Australia, suspended by an appropriately coloured riband. Gary and Alan expressed great delight at this possible outcome and left their own submission with Mr Robert which included many definitions of wounded in action and also addressed those missing believed killed and prisoners of war.
A medal for those wounded in action had been considered by the Coalition but was hindered by the legal definition to be applied to “wounded in action”; for example, would a soldier being mortared who dives into a fighting pit and cracks a tooth on a sand bag whilst doing so, be considered as being wounded in action?
The intent to award the proposed medal to the next of kin of those killed in action was announced at a press conference in Melbourne on Sunday 25 July 2010 and appears below.
“A Coalition Government would introduce a new military medal for Australian Defence Force personnel killed in action while serving overseas.
The federal opposition's parliamentary secretary for defence support, Andrew Laming, said the medal would “fill the gap” in the nation's current military awards structure.
“Their ultimate sacrifice deserves to be acknowledged at the highest levels and this new medal is part of that recognition,” Mr Laming said.“The families of our fallen soldiers currently receive no special recognition for the loss of their loved ones and deserve acknowledgement.”
Under the plan, the Governor-General would award the medal to the next of kin of all ADF personnel killed on war service since 1948.
Since 2001, 17 Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, including six this year. The proposed medal would be in line with similar decorations awarded by the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand who all have similar decorations.”
On Wednesday 21 July 2010 Gary Chad and Alan Price visited Mr Stuart Robert MP, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence at his offices in Oxenford, Qld. Mr Robert was a former Army officer who has served with 6 RAR and is an Honorary Member of the 4 RAR Association, Qld. The purpose of the visit was to present a submission recommending that a new medal be created to be awarded to the next of kin of those killed in action and a variation in design to be awarded to those wounded in action. Gary and Alan had worked on a detailed submission for some two weeks prior and had designed a medal riband which could satisfy both awards. In the meantime Gary had received the support of Mr Ross Thompson, a Qld Courier-Mail newspaper journalist and an article appeared in that newspaper publicising Gary’s quest.
The submission itself was a follow on from Gary’s determined efforts during the 1990s for such a medal or medals to be created.
Gary and Alan received an unexpected surprise from Mr Robert when he confided to them that the Liberal National Party, very much in response to Gary’s previous letters on the subject, was in the process of announcing that the Liberal National Party had already decided that such a medal was to be introduced and Mr Robert showed us the intended design of a medal to be created for presentation to the next of kin of those killed in action since the end of World War Two. The medal design or even the award of the medal has not yet been approved and that may even depend on the election results but it is really a splendid medal attached to an appropriate neck band. The award is of a very special design which is to worn around the neck, as are the senior awards of the Order of Australia, suspended by an appropriately coloured riband. Gary and Alan expressed great delight at this possible outcome and left their own submission with Mr Robert which included many definitions of wounded in action and also addressed those missing believed killed and prisoners of war.
A medal for those wounded in action had been considered by the Coalition but was hindered by the legal definition to be applied to “wounded in action”; for example, would a soldier being mortared who dives into a fighting pit and cracks a tooth on a sand bag whilst doing so, be considered as being wounded in action?
The intent to award the proposed medal to the next of kin of those killed in action was announced at a press conference in Melbourne on Sunday 25 July 2010 and appears below.
“A Coalition Government would introduce a new military medal for Australian Defence Force personnel killed in action while serving overseas.
The federal opposition's parliamentary secretary for defence support, Andrew Laming, said the medal would “fill the gap” in the nation's current military awards structure.
“Their ultimate sacrifice deserves to be acknowledged at the highest levels and this new medal is part of that recognition,” Mr Laming said.“The families of our fallen soldiers currently receive no special recognition for the loss of their loved ones and deserve acknowledgement.”
Under the plan, the Governor-General would award the medal to the next of kin of all ADF personnel killed on war service since 1948.
Since 2001, 17 Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, including six this year. The proposed medal would be in line with similar decorations awarded by the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand who all have similar decorations.”