TONY Abbott suggested a unilateral invasion of Iraq, with 3500 Australian ground troops to confront the Islamic State terrorist group.
Flanked by his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, in a meeting in Canberra on November 25, the Prime Minister said the move would help halt the surge of Islamic State in northern Iraq.
After receiving no resistance from Ms Credlin or his other staff in the room, Mr Abbott then raised the idea with Australia’s leading military planners. The military officials were stunned, telling Mr Abbott that sending 3500 Australian soldiers without any US or NATO cover would be disastrous for the Australians.
They argued that even the US was not prepared to put ground troops into Iraq and it would make Australia the only Western country with troops on the ground.
Asked this week about the suggestion by the Prime Minister of sending Australian ground troops to Iraq, a spokesman for Mr Abbott said: “The Prime Minister has consistently said that the Australian government will continue to talk to the government of Iraq and to our coalition partners about what Australia can usefully do to make the world a safer place and to make Australia a safer country.”
The suggestion by Mr Abbott has been uncovered during an investigation by The Weekend Australian into how the Abbott government is working and why it has been hit with problems on several flanks.
One minister said the partyroom would not permit the management style of Mr Abbott’s office, under Ms Credlin, to continue. He said: “If the management style continues this way, Tony Abbott will not take us to the next election — Malcolm Turnbull will.”
That minister had publicly supported Mr Abbott in the lead-up to the motion for a leadership spill.
The proposal to invade Iraq raises the issue of Mr Abbott’s judgment — it was made two months before his decision to award a knighthood to Prince Philip. The knighthood triggered a motion for a leadership spill against Mr Abbott.
The motion was defeated but it was supported by 39 members of the parliamentary party.
The Iraq idea was not the first time Mr Abbott had suggested a military intervention by Australia’s armed forces. The Australian reported in August that in the week following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine by Russian-backed militia, Mr Abbott suggested sending 1000 Australian soldiers to secure the site of the crash.
Thirty-eight Australians were killed in the crash.
Australia’s leading military planners also argued against that proposal, telling Mr Abbott there were serious problems with the plan: Australian soldiers would not be able to speak either Ukrainian or Russian, and the Australian troops would have difficulty distinguishing between Ukrainians and Russian militia.
The Weekend Australian investigation has uncovered the enormous power of Ms Credlin.
It has found Ms Credlin had a key role in developing last year’s budget, including on occasions acting as the chair of the expenditure review committee.
While Mr Abbott was nominally the chair, one person who sat in on the meetings said on occasions Ms Credlin would take over, determining the agenda and deciding which ministers and officials would prepare which reports.
Mr Abbott has allowed Ms Credlin a role previous prime ministerial advisers have never had. The investigation found a widespread view among his colleagues that Mr Abbott has become remote and inaccessible.
As evidence that the Prime Minister has become isolated, one Liberal senator pointed to the fact that in the 16 months after winning the election, Mr Abbott had not had a single meeting with his pollster, Mark Textor.
The investigation found Mr Abbott’s office had alienated key figures in the party, such as the former assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos. Senator Sinodinos believes Ms Credlin leaked a story against him in December, a claim Ms Credlin denies.