The Constitutional and Legal Foundations for Australian Civil-Military Relations: Continuity and Change Since Federation

Abstract

<p>I should just give a brief disclaimer that, yes, I am an active Navy Reserve legal officer, but I am speaking in my academic capacity. I also apologise for not being there with you today. I'd very much like to have been present but I'm also not sorry that I'm at the coast and I can just look out there and see the waves, whales in the surf and so on. Maybe I have the best of both worlds, but I would rather be giving this presentation in person.</p><p>What I want to talk about are the constitutional principles and the law that underpin civil-military relations in Australia. I am going to deal with constitutional principles, and my overall argument is going to be that I think the principles have actually worked pretty well. We have only had the [1808] Rum Rebellion of the New South Wales Corps against Governor William Bligh in the entire history of European settlement in Australia.</p>