Did senior army staff know about 'Jedi Council' sex scandal?
The chief of the Australian army is refusing to be interviewed by 7News for an investigation which suggests his most senior staff were aware of a major sex scandal about which he claims to have had no knowledge.
7News reporter Robert Ovadia has found that a secret defense finding reveals Lieutenant-General David Morrison’s office was told nearly a year before he made the scandal public.
Soldiers implicated in the ‘Jedi Council’ affair say it would never have seen the light of day had police not forced the army’s hand.
General Morrison has previously shared a world stage with celebrities, world leaders and activists at a global summit on sexual violence.
He had won worldwide acclaim condemning the mistreatment of women, after breaking news of the Jedi Council sex scandal in his army.
He told the conference he was made aware of the allegations on April 12 2013.
But the Defence Force's own internal findings show the most senior staff in the general's office had been told nine months earlier that New South Wales detectives were investigating Australian soldiers.
"Associated with the investigation," reads the report, "were a number of army personnel, ranking from Lance Corporal to Major, 'who call themselves the Jedi Council'."
John Sutton, from Armstrong Legal, told 7News it 'beggars belief' if the general did not know about the findings and he is calling for an internal investigation to take place.
