WHILE the military establishment and the opposition are busy jumping ugly on the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith, a few points have been overlooked.
Kate, the alleged victim of the Skype scandal, is no longer at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Through no fault of her own, her presence there has been rendered untenable and she is back in Queensland trying to continue her fledgling military career.
Of the two alleged perpetrators, one has quit and the other is still at ADFA training to be an officer.
Both are subject to criminal proceedings - not military but civilian. The military should punt the remaining cadet if convicted in the ACT. Why it did not investigate and then punt them both when it learned of what happened has not been adequately explained.
Kate went public supposedly because the military was going to do nothing about it.
Smith is being jumped upon because he lashed and then suspended the ADFA boss, Commodore Bruce Kafer, for what the minister said was his poor initial judgment in handing the matter.
Smith was angry that Kafer, upon hearing of the incident, thought it appropriate to continue with unrelated disciplinary proceedings against Kate. The independent Kirkham report said it would have been reasonable to shelve these proceedings to spare Kate further trauma and to not do so was a ''failing''.
Otherwise, Kafer was not guilty of a breach of the law, as Smith originally charged.
Given he also called Kafer's behaviour stupid, Smith could maybe have been a little conciliatory given Kirkham's ambiguous findings. Nor has there been adequate explanation as to why the report was handed to the government in December and then sat upon.
But, clearly, Smith remains entitled to harbour his original view that Kafer was insensitive in pursuing an unrelated and trivial matter against a young woman whose dignity and privacy had been violated so egregiously.
Kafer will return to work this week, meaning everyone involved in the Skype scandal - minus the victim and one alleged perpetrator - are all still at ADFA.
Wright By:kevin,Tags:ed hardyed hardy clothingChristian Audigier
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