On Saturday 21 February the Weekend Australian reported that the Prime Minister had raised with "Australia’s leading military planners" the idea of "a unilateral invasion of Iraq, with 3,500 Australian ground troops to confront the Islamic State terrorist group".
The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, and the Secretary of the Department of Defence, Mr Dennis Richardson, advise that this claim is false.
"At no point has the Prime Minister raised that idea with the ADF and/or the Department of Defence, formally or informally, directly or indirectly," said Air Chief Marshal Binskin and Secretary Richardson.
Issued by Ministerial and Executive Coordination and Communication,
Department of Defence,
Canberra, ACT
Phone: 02 6127 1999 Fax: 02 6265 6946
