The Coalition has demanded Anthony Albnaese sack Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh after the parents of a slain Afghanistan veteran were snubbed from Sunday’s memorial to commemorate 25 years since Operation Slipper in Canberra.
Operation Slipper was the official name for the Australian Defence Force’s military involvement in the Afghanistan war and the broader international campaign against terrorism.
Afghanistan veteran Sean McCarthy was killed in Uruzgan Province on Tuesday, July 8, 2008. His parents David and Mary McCarthy said the failure to invite them to the memorial revealed a “lack of empathy” from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Shadow defence personnel minister Phil Thompson questioned how many more times the “incompetent” Mr Keogh could “fail and fall upwards”.
“The Prime Minister should be standing up today and announcing a new minister for Veterans Affairs. Matt Keogh is clearly not up to the task,” Mr Thompson told News24 host Peta Credlin.
Mr Thompson said while Mr Keogh told parliament during Question Time he had spoken to the McCarthys following the invitation blunder, he still deflected the blame.
“We heard today in Question Time … it was the War Memorial’s fault, which I just think is quite pathetic, as he’s the responsible minister,” Mr Thompson said.
“They were told on Saturday. The commemoration event was on Sunday, why didn’t they spin up the plane? Why didn’t they go and pick up every single family member who has lost a loved one in the war on terror in Afghanistan?
“This is just ridiculous.”
Mr Thompson said ministers should be taking responsibility for failures within their department, adding that Mr Keogh “just fails to do that”.
“He’s supposed to be running the show. It’d be like someone in business or myself going, ‘oh, no, it is my staff’s fault, not mine.’ No, it was my fault. I’m the leader in my office, it’s my responsibility, and if anything happened, I take responsibility,” Mr Thompson said.
“The minister just fails to do that, he fails to see how he’s the responsible person.
“And from cutting travel to Cameron Baird VCMG’s family, to cutting funding to the Invictus, to putting an allied health cap on veterans of $5,000, he continues to fail and fail upwards.
“The Prime Minister needs to look at him and just go, ‘mate. This gig’s just not for you,’ and move him on.”
The Prime Minister told the War Memorial audience that “we acknowledge and honour the families” who were grieving lost loved ones.
However, two other widows of dead servicemen were also initially not invited, leading them to speculate their outspoken criticism of the war crimes inquiry, known as the Brereton report, led to the Department’s refusal to include them at the ceremony.