War on War

Under our political system all three arms of Government exist separately yet none may have unbridled power unto itself or untrammelled power over any other. This is known as the doctrine of the separation of powers.

This division of power is intended to stop one person or group of people taking over all the power to govern Australia.

So it comes to my mind, strange indeed, that a Prime Minister, any PM, can take it on himself or herself to make a decision to send our armed forces to war; to send our people into harm’s way, without the checks and balances established by the separation of powers.

My concern is that should these decisions to go to a particular war, are found to be illegal one day. I am concerned that servicemen and women, who are in need of compensation or legal protection are put beyond the protection of the law by a whim of one person.

What if, we find that legally, there are no grounds to continuing to pay compensation to war widows or veterans because the actions of Prime ministers were not constitutional?

We are not living in a dictatorship, but this situation is not a democratic one. We need to be above the law when we risk going to war and losing our children in service to their nation.

The Australian Constitution vests ‘command in chief’ of the Commonwealth’s military forces in the Governor-General who exercises this power on advice of the Prime Minister.

Decisions about war and the deployment of Australian forces, have therefore, ultimately become matters for the Prime Minister of the day.

Once in the case of the Korean war, the Deputy PM a Country Party minister made this decision before informing Menzies.

On 9 July 1950 Prime Minister Menzies left Australia on an overseas trip to Britain and the United States. Menzies heard nothing in London that caused him to change his mind (not to send troops). The British had given him the impression that they had no intention of committing ground troops either. In fact the British were considering making such a commitment. As Menzies travelled on to New York aboard the Queen Mary, Canberra was informed by London that they had decided to send troops to Korea and that an announcement was imminent. Concerned that Australia was about to be upstaged, Spender badgered Fadden to get in first and make an immediate announcement that Australia would be committing ground troops. The decision was made without consulting Menzies (or the rest of the Cabinet) and broadcast on ABC radio an hour before the British announcement.

Spender told Menzies of the decision by radiotelephone. By the time Menzies spoke to reporters’ quayside in New York, however, he was giving every indication that he had been a party to the decision.

Coming only hours after the announcement from Canberra, Menzies’ arrival in the United States turned out to be particularly propitious. He was invited to lunch at the White House, spoke to the National Press Club and addressed both Houses of Congress. Never before had an Australian Prime Minister received such an enthusiastic welcome in Washington. Menzies also took every opportunity to assert Australian primacy in the decision to commit ground troops to Korea. He brazenly told Congress that he expected British and New Zealand troops soon to be joining Australians and Americans in fighting the communists in Korea.

We as a people deserve a more democratic process in place before making this, one of the gravest decisions of all.

Is this a matter for a Plebiscite? Any one out there want to join a campaign to change this abhorrent mess?