Australian MP accused of ordering ‘Nazi salute’
SYDNEY—A key Australian politician who holds the balance of power in parliament was Friday accused of ordering military cadets to commemorate Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany.
Andrew Wilkie allegedly told teenage army recruits to salute the 50th anniversary of Hitler’s 1933 rise when he was a senior cadet at the elite Duntroon Military College in 1983, News Limited newspapers reported.
When one recruit refused to stand to attention in honour of the Nazis, the independent MP allegedly allowed other senior cadets to abuse and punish him.
Wilkie, a key member of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s fragile coalition government, said he had no recollection of such an incident, but admitted involvement in “bastardisation” sessions at the officer training academy.
The former Iraq war whistle-blower is currently leading a push against problem slot machine gambling and revealed on Wednesday that he was getting death threats as debate intensified about imposing betting limits.
He claimed the Nazi allegations were part of a deliberate smear campaign over his push to crack down on poker machines.
Article continues after this advertisement“It’s disappointing that on the day the poker machine industry launched its public campaign against me and the government, within hours I had a death threat to report to federal Police,” he told the ABC.
Article continues after this advertisement“I’ve had correspondence warning me of the existence of compromising photos, and now we have the media trawling over my history as a cadet 30 years ago.”
The newspaper quoted former cadet Brendan Etches, whose grandfather fought against Hitler’s troops at Tobruk, as saying he was shocked at being ordered to salute the regime.
“I refused to come to attention when they ordered the general salute,” said Etches, who was 17 at the time.
Etches left Duntroon soon after and was one of three cadets who blew the whistle on the college’s “sick secret cult” of sadistic punishment for trifling or imagined offences.
The scandal led to the resignation of senior officers and the expulsion and disciplining of several cadets, including Wilkie, although he went on to attain the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army.
