Politics · Australia · 2 days ago
Veterans urge Australian government to release Iraq and Afghanistan histories
Veteran groups and the Australian War Memorial are asking Australia’s government to release four official histories of the country’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The histories were commissioned in 2015 and completed in 2023, but none has been published.
Official histories draw on government, defence and intelligence records, as well as interviews, to document the operational, political and social aspects of war.
Before publication, the manuscripts must pass government security checks.
One volume has been cleared, two remain with the government, and a fourth has been completed but not submitted for checks.
Veterans say the delay makes it harder to understand their service, and some worry the government may be hiding something.
Ex-service groups are urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government to speed up the release.
The RSL, Legacy and the Australian War Memorial are urging the Albanese government to publish overdue official histories of Australia’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The four Middle East volumes were commissioned in 2015 and completed in 2023, but none has been published.
Veterans’ groups say the delay has negative consequences for veterans, who may use the histories to understand the full picture of their service.
One volume has been cleared for publication, two remain with government, and a fourth has not been submitted for security checks.
The histories draw on government, defence and intelligence documents and interviews with veterans.
- Who
- The RSL, Legacy and the Australian War Memorial are calling for the histories to be released. They are urging the Albanese government to act.
- What
- The groups want the official histories of Australia’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan published.
- When
- The volumes were commissioned in 2015 and completed in 2023. None has been published.
- Where
- The histories cover Australia’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Why
- The groups say the delay has negative consequences for veterans. The histories could help veterans understand the full picture of their service.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Abbott government commissioned the four Middle East histories.
The four volumes were completed.
ABC Australia reported that veterans’ groups and the Australian War Memorial were calling for the histories to be released.
- Middle East volumes
- 4
- Commissioned
- 2015
- Completed
- 2023
- Published
- None of the four Middle East volumes
- Clearance status
- 1 cleared; 2 remain with government; 1 completed but not submitted for security checks
What people are saying
I can only think it's bureaucratic mismanagement and a complete misunderstanding of the purpose of the history.
Our veterans have waited long enough, and we owe it to them to have these on the public record as soon as possible
These are the questions I still ask myself 20 years later … I think knowing the official history will be really helpful for some of us to understand.
I can't say that I'm fully conscious of any reason why it should be proceeding so slowly,
Sources
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