Canning MP Andrew Hastie has been “terminated” from the army’s standby reserve for defying Defence orders to pull down a billboard on Forrest Highway with a photo of him serving in uniform.
Mr Hastie was ordered to remove campaign material containing the photograph of Mr Hastie when he was serving in the Special Air Service in May.
He was served with a notice a week ago terminating his position in the “standby reserve”.
Campaigning in Mandurah with small business minister Kelly O’Dwyer, Mr Hastie said he was not perturbed by Defence’s actions.
“I was in the standby reserve which as you know is a dormant pool of ex-serving members, its basically a database,” he said.
“I was no longer under Defence authority; I was a parliamentarian and parliamentarians don't take orders from the military.
“I thought my poster from my billboard was in good taste and that's why it remains where it is today on the Forrest Highway.”
Mr Hastie also called on the Defence force to apply the same rules to Australian of the Year David Morrison, a former chief of army.
“I just want to make clear, that David Morrison's platform as Australian of the Year is as the former chief of army and last week he made some comments about the English language which were highly debatable,” Mr Hastie said.
“No-one chipped him for using his Defence background to make those comments, so if they're going have a standard, apply it to all, otherwise we're going to end up where Defence people can't even reference their background and that would be a bad place to be.”
Mr Hastie was supported by Coalition colleagues.
Ms O’Dwyer said: “Frankly, I applaud you for the decision and stance you have taken, I think it's the right decision and right stance and I think most people in your local community would say the same.”
Ms O’Dwyer said she served for a short time in the Defence reserves.
Earlier on Thursday finance minister Mathias Cormann spoke out in support of Mr Hastie.
“It is entirely appropriate for Andrew Hastie to present himself to his constituents in the context of an election campaign, putting forward his life story,” he said.
“His distinguished service as part of the SAS forces, including in Afghanistan, is part of his history.”
The Australian Defence Force released a statement on Wednesday announcing the decision.
“Defence contacted Mr Hastie, a member of the standby army reserve, and requested he remove imagery of himself in uniform from election campaign material,” a spokesman said.
“Regrettably, Mr Hastie did not comply with this request.
“Accordingly, the Army issued Mr Hastie with a notice indicating the intention to terminate his service because he had failed to comply with directions and Defence policy.
“Mr Hastie’s service has since been terminated.”
Mr Hastie said he wanted to return to his job as member for Canning.
Nathan Hondros
Senior Journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
Senior Journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
