Pauline Hanson has branded senior Australian Defence Force officials “out of touch” and “woke” after images emerged of Australian soldiers making traditional Indigenous weapons during a cultural training program.
The soldiers took part in “Exercise Greenskin” in Canberra in May, a four-day course designed to deepen understanding of Indigenous history, culture and the traditions of the local Ngunnawal people.
As part of the program, participants were asked to identify suitable trees and use them to make items including clubs, spears, axes and coolamons, a shallow carrying vessel. The course also included a series of cultural tours.
Hanson, the One Nation leader, questioned why the training was being conducted, accusing Defence of prioritising symbolic activities over combat readiness and “modern day warfighting.”
In a social media post on Monday, Hanson wrote: “I hope spears and clubs aren’t our new plan for defence instead of weapons and drones.”
She also claimed Defence appeared reluctant to draw attention to the program, saying: “Defence obviously knew this was a stinker because they didn’t even post it to Facebook, trying to keep it hidden on LinkedIn instead.”
‘To be clear, this isn’t the fault of the diggers. They’re being forced to do this by out of touch Generals and our woke defence minister.’
Hanson also appeared to draw inspiration from a comment made on defence Australia’s original LinkedIn post, almost copying word-for-word a critique made by Mineline Resources Managing Director Glenn Jones.
Pauline Hanson has slammed defence officials as ‘out of touch’ after soldiers took part in a four day course about Indigenous history in May
Army personnel had to find the correct trees to make craft clubs, spears, axes and coolamons
Hanson accused Defence Minister Richard Marles of being ‘woke’
‘It’s also good to see the “traditional” Ryobi sander getting a workout in this “traditional” process,’ Hanson quipped.
Mr Jones was not alone in his criticism, with others taking to defence Australia’s post to question the role of the program.
Cyber Security Architect John Harrison asked: ‘Would the four days of training been better spent learning battlefield tactics and technologies being used in Ukraine, and closely studied by the People’s Liberation Army of China?’
Public servant Shane Shephered-Ashby, who is understood to work in Defence, also publicly slammed the course.
‘They had cordless sanders and axes back in the Dreamtime? Waste of time money and man hours,’ he commented.
However, others championed the program and said it was a great way to help soldiers better understand the Aboriginal history of their unit.
Officer in charge, Major Samuel White, said soldiers and officers may eventually be authorised to carry culturally cleared Indigenous weapons for ceremonial purposes.
‘When you walk into every CO’s [commanding officer] office, there should be something like this from the area,’ Major White said.
The program aimed to connect soldiers with Indigenous history, culture and Ngunnawal traditions
Participant Sergeant Scott Trenham, a Palawa man from Tasmania, said one standout was seeing non-Indigenous soldiers learn more.
‘I have a strong link to culture being Indigenous myself, but seeing non-Indigenous Australians and service members learn how to do this sort of stuff is the highlight,’ he said.
A spokesperson for defence Minister Richard Marles slammed Hanson’s comments.
‘All these comments from Senator Hanson demonstrate a complete lack of respect for the men and women of the Australian Defence Force who every day work tirelessly and selflessly to keep our nation safe,’ the spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
‘Our defence force personnel deserve better than being the centre of the culture war One Nation want to wage.’
