More than 35,000 Australians served in Afghanistan or in support roles in the Middle East. Forty-seven Australian Defence Force personnel died in Afghanistan. A 25th-anniversary service in Canberra commemorated their service and the families left behind.
The Cost of Deployment
Australian forces deployed 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, 263 Australian Defence Force personnel suffered wounds as a result of their service in the country. The figures presented at the commemoration measured the human cost of the deployment in deaths, injuries and bereavement.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and Governor-General Sam Mostyn attended the service at the Australian War Memorial. Former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison also attended, along with Afghanistan veteran Ben Roberts-Smith. The ceremony included 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 service.
John Howard served as prime minister when Australia decided to send troops to Afghanistan. Albanese quoted Howard explaining the decision: "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 set out the public rationale for Australia's participation in the multinational mission.
Families and Those Who Served
Janny Poate's son, Private Robert Poate, died in the war in 2012, killed by a rogue Afghan army officer. Speaking about bereaved families, she said they "formed part of the story." She described families hoping every day that a partner, parent, child or sibling would return safely. They remember those who never came home, and those who have suffered loss since.
"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," Poate said. Her account put families' continuing pain alongside the service's commemoration of those deployed.
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 who served experienced a different Afghanistan. Some saw what he called the very worst of war. Others experienced friendship, humanity, humour, courage and kindness. He said some brought home experiences they found difficult to put into words.
Anderson recalled Chaplain Rob Sutherland's words: "perhaps we will measure success in Afghanistan differently." He said the campaign's history would draw its own conclusions, while calling the men and women who served the campaign's great success.
Military Risk and Accountability
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 reached beyond Australia. She cited a condolence message from the chairman of the NATO Military Committee: "Training to keep our forces ready is never without risk. Those who accept that risk every day deserve our deepest respect and gratitude."
Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, received court permission to travel to Canberra for the ceremony. He faces five counts of war crime murder relating to his Afghanistan deployments. He has rejected the allegations and said he planned to fight to clear his name in court.