Firstly, I must of necessity express some obvious qualifications about my remarks. Foremost, I can never fully imagine, much less experience, the iss… - David Morrison

Sadly, it had become clear in recent years that the tribal culture, through which we sought to build small teams capable of enduring combat, had become distorted, misinterpreted and abused. And the evidence of that was brought home to me in a very personal, poignant and confronting way by Elizabeth Broderick.

I was no longer comforted by the cliché that a ‘few bad apples’ were undermining the great work of the vast majority. Nor was I willing to argue that a widely publicised incident at our Defence Academy - where a sexual encounter between a young female cadet and a colleague was telecast via Skype - was no worse than conduct among young people on civilian campuses.

Through their work in highlighting the role of the leader, making workforce flexibility a mainstream of Australian workplaces and looking for, and implementing "game changing" initiatives they are making a telling contribution to this vital area. I am deeply proud to be a Male Champion of Change and an Ambassador for White Ribbon. The values and aspirations inimical to both are completely aligned to those I hold as the Chief of the Australian Army.