Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles announced that his department has launched an urgent investigation into laws governing retired military personnel after reports of former air force pilots being hired to train the Chinese military came to light.
Marles said that the information given to him presented “enough evidence to warrant the need for a detailed examination into the adequacy of current Defence policies and procedures addressing this matter.”
In his comments to the media, Marles argued that former defence personnel have an “enduring obligation” to protect state secrets, and warned that if they were found to be compromising these secrets then their crime would be “clear and unambiguous.”
“I want to make this point. For those who do come into possession of our nation’s secrets, either through service in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) or indeed, service in any other part of the Commonwealth, there is an enduring obligation to maintain those secrets for as long as they are secrets, which persists well after their engagement with the Commonwealth, and to breach that obligation is a very serious crime,” he declared.
The Armed Force Minister - responding to the mind-blowing news that some 30 ex-fast jet & helicopter pilots are currently training Chinese counterparts in China in return for large salaries - urged personnel to check with @DefenceHQ before agreeing to train foreign militaries
— Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah) October 18, 2022
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Former Defence Minister and now-opposition leader Peter Dutton claimed last month that his party had received information that two former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots had been approached to participate in a program to train Chinese fighter pilots. Calling the reports “alarming,” Dutton challenged the Labor government to tighten legislation to curb the activity.
While Marles refused to confirm if any ADF personnel have provided training to China, he insisted that the Albanese administration will introduce changes to the law relating to former defence personnel if there are any “weaknesses.”
The Defence Department’s deputy secretary for security and estate, Celia Perkins, told the Senate that the review, which will end on December 14, would analyse how the department “managed security clearances and other controls for people taking jobs after their military careers that may be needed in response to foreign interference threats.”
“All our people, particularly our highly trained people, we know are attractive targets and the onus is on us in our security policy controls and settings to support them and build deep awareness in our community that foreign actors will target our people for the unique skills they have,” she said.
What @joel_schectman and I found in our Raven reporting is there really isn’t a strong legal regime to discourage this type of behavior. And following our stories there was pushback from private sector and IC regarding new regulation to try to curb it.
— Chris Bing (@Bing_Chris) October 18, 2022
Perkins also admitted that it is unclear at the moment how many pilots may be implicated, a point reiterated by Marles, who merely said that the defence ministry is investigating a “number of cases.”
Marles ordered the Senate review after reports from Sky News and the BBC claimed that a South African flying school was acting as a middleman for China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to recruit Australian, British, and New Zealand pilots to provide training with a lucrative offer of around $272,000. They added that about 30 British former fighter pilots are currently in China training PLA pilots.
Against this backdrop, former Defence Department deputy secretary Peter Jennings warned that “no one should imagine the risk is just about pilots”. “China will be doing what it always does, which is industrial-level activity targeting people with a range of skills,” he said. Jennings said that the PLA “will be targeting people who know submarine operations, who know surface ship operations, intelligence, any area of defence capability.”
Australia’s laws prohibit ADF personnel from providing military-style training to those connected to a foreign government unless authorised by the Australian government. While former personnel can seek permission from the government and serve with and work for foreign militaries, they are banned from sharing secrets obtained from the ADF.
Neil James, the chief executive of the Australian Defense Association think tank, remarked that Canberra’s laws on treason, treachery, and secrecy protection were “convoluted” and depend on circumstances. “For example, it’s pretty hard to charge anyone with treason outside wartime,” he said.
The defence department will present its findings to Marles by 14 December. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong spoke with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Tuesday but a readout of their call made no mention of the pilot controversy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also remained tight-lipped on the issue but told reporters on Wednesday that dialogue with Chinese President Xi Jinping “would be a positive thing.”
Following the reports, the United Kingdom is also looking into changing its laws to prevent former military pilots from training the Chinese military.