Australian Story: May 25

On Monday’s Australian Story, Caroline Jones introduces the untold story of Lieutenant General David Morrison, the man who helped change a culture of discrimination within the Army and the women who changed him.

“For six hours I listened to stories that not just tore at my heart but tore at the idea that I had about an institution that purported…to give everybody a fair go.” Lieutenant General David Morrison (ret’d).

“I’d say there was a level of passive aggression against me but you know what? I was determined.” (Elizabeth Broderick, Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, describing the feeling in the military before she embarked on her review into defence culture).

“My friend had said David was in the Army and I thought it’ll be some old Army person – but he was just so very different to what I had anticipated”. (Gayle Morrison, on meeting her husband for the first time).

This week’s program has the untold inside story of how David Morrison became a crusader for cultural change in the Army and of the women who galvanised him.

Lieutenant General David Morrison has just retired as Chief of the Army after four years in the top job, and 36 years of military service.

For better or worse, he will be best remembered as the flinty-eyed commander whose famous ‘shape up or get out’ YouTube address to his troops went viral.

Australian Story reveals the dramatic conversion of our top soldier, beginning with a meeting four years ago with Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick.

Later, Broderick would introduce him to three Army women, former and serving, who gave wrenching accounts of the abuse they had experienced. These stories, he says, ‘tore’ at his heart and at his belief in the institution he loved.

It became “a life-changing moment” with far reaching consequences for our defence forces.

The culmination came in 2013, mid way through Lt. General Morrison’s term, when the so-called ‘Jedi Council’ scandal erupted. The scandal involved a reservist and a number of serving officers who were exposed for sharing and receiving OFFENSIVE AND EXPLICIT images on the defence email system.

Morrison was ‘appalled’ and vowed to continue his campaign to change army culture. “Culture change is the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted to do, but it’s also the best thing I’ve ever attempted”, he says.

While many applauded his tough stand, others accused him of going too far and becoming a ‘poster boy’ for mainly opportunistic reasons.

In this week’s program, those who know him best provide their perspectives and insights into a complex man and his impact on the Australian Army.

Producer: Lisa McGregor

Monday May 25, 8pm on ABC.