Admiral urges Scomo to pull defence personnel from climate duties

Former ADF chief calls on Morrison Government to strategise a plan to combat climate change without military response.

Australia’s military is calling for a unified national strategy to tackle increasingly prevalent climate-related disasters to avoid troops being deployed away from potential security crises.

In an interview with The Guardian Australia, retired Admiral Chris Barrie called on the Australian government to pledge to cut emissions by more than 50 percent by 2030 come Glasgow’s COP-26 event.

“It is no longer sufficient to say, ‘it doesn’t matter what we do, the defence force will be there to pick up the mess or sweep up the mess afterwards’,”Barrie says.

Barrie, who was chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) from 1998 to 2002 warns the ADF did not recruit individuals to fight bushfires and clean up after floods.

Rather, he believes these individuals need to be ready to fight national security breaches if they arise.

“We need to think carefully about how we are going to head off the likelihood that these [disasters] might happen, and then be prepared to deal with them – but not using ADF people,” Barrie says.

“They’re the most expensive people you can buy to do this kind of work.”

Barrie is now an executive member of the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group and is calling on the Morrison government to release a climate plan before November’s UN summit.

The ADF is often relied upon by the federal government because it is a workforce the government controls.

Time to get defence priorities straight

The Guardian also questioned the climate group leader about whether the ADF being deprived of broader strategic preparation because of the climate crisis could implicate further military challenge.

“Let’s say we are headed to 3C [of warming] and we’re finding our ADF is out there doing those kinds of work. If there’s a defence emergency and they all bugger off, where are we left?” Barrie questions.

It comes as even more reason for the Morrison government to execute a plan to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Written by Rebecca Borg