Janny Poate said bereaved families “formed part of the story” as Australian leaders gathered at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to mark the 25th anniversary of the deployment to Afghanistan. Her son, Private Robert Poate, died in 2012, killed by a rogue Afghan army officer. “The empty places that remain and the grief that fills that space has become part of the everyday life for these families, including my own,” she said.
Thousands who served in Afghanistan received commemorations. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison, and Afghanistan veteran Ben Roberts-Smith attended. Howard was prime minister when the state decided to send troops; the families who waited for loved ones to return lived with the losses.
The cost carried by families
Australian forces deployed to Afghanistan in 2001 under Operation Slipper, joining a multinational mission to combat terrorism after the September 11 attacks in the United States. Over the next two decades, more than 35,000 Australians served in Afghanistan or in support roles in the Middle East. Forty-seven Australian Defence Force personnel died, and 263 were wounded as a result of their service in the country.
Poate spoke for families whose experience can't be reduced to a ceremony’s formal sequence. “Families hoped every day that their partner, parent, child or sibling would return safely,” she said. She remembered, too, those who “experienced the overwhelming loss of a family member who never came home and those who have suffered loss since.” The costs she described remain in families’ everyday lives, including her own.
Before the service, recordings featured past and present Australian Defence Force members describing their experiences in what became Australia’s longest war. Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson said each person “experienced a different Afghanistan.” Some saw “the very worst of war,” while others encountered friendship, humanity, humour and “moments of extraordinary courage and kindness.” Anderson said some returned with experiences they struggled to put into words.
The official account of the campaign
Anderson cited Chaplain Rob Sutherland’s suggestion that “perhaps we will measure success in Afghanistan differently.” Then he offered his own measure: “the great success of Afghanistan is the men and women who served there.” The service’s official account put those who served at its center, while the deployment decision, the deaths and families’ grief remained part of the story around them.
Albanese quoted Howard explaining why Australia joined the conflict: “If we left this contest only to America, we would be leaving it to them to defend our rights and those of all the other people of the world who have a commitment to freedom and liberty.” The quotation sets out the government’s justification for entering the campaign. History’s judgment of the campaign remained an open question. Anderson said “whatever conclusions are ultimately drawn by history” about it, the service members’ role was already clear to him.
Risk doesn't end with a ceremony
Mostyn opened her address with condolences to the family of Corporal Brendan Hannam, killed the previous week during a training exercise in the Northern Territory. Hannam had served in Afghanistan. Mostyn said his loss was felt “well beyond Australia, well beyond these shores.” She quoted a condolence message from the chairman of the NATO Military Committee: “Training to keep our forces ready is never without risk.” The message thanked those who accept that risk.
The service featured wreath-laying at the Stone of Remembrance, the Ode of Remembrance, the Last Post and a minute’s silence. A Chinook helicopter flyover closed the ceremony. Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, received court permission to travel to Canberra for the service. He faces five counts of war crime murder relating to his Afghanistan deployments, rejects the allegations, and says he plans to fight to clear his name in court.