Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Andrew James Molan, (born 11 April 1950) is an Australian politician and former major general in the
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
. He has been a
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
since November 2019, representing the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. He was previously a Senator for New South Wales from December 2017 to June 2019.
During his military career, Molan was commanding officer of the
6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in Brisbane, Queensland, on 6 June 1965 and has since then served in a number of overseas deployments and conf ...
, commander of the
1st Brigade, commander of the
1st Division and its Deployable Joint Force Headquarters, and commander of the
Australian Defence College
The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory:
* the War College,
* the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...
. In April 2004, he deployed for a year to Iraq to serve as Chief of Operations for the new Headquarters
Multinational Force in Iraq
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries
* Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries
* Multinational state, a sovereign state that comprises two or more na ...
. He has been awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries.
*Distinguished Service Cross (Australia)
The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...
, as well as the
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...
by the U.S. government. He retired from the Australian Army in 2008, and later that year released his first book, ''Running the War in Iraq''.
Following his retirement from the Australian Army, Molan was appointed by the
Abbott Government as a special envoy for
Operation Sovereign Borders
Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) is a border protection operation led by the Australian Defence Force, aimed at stopping maritime arrivals of asylum seekers to Australia. The operation is the outcome of a 2013 federal election policy of the ...
and was subsequently credited with being an architect of the
coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
's ''Stop the Boats'' Australian border protection and asylum-seeker policies.
In 2016, Molan unsuccessfully stood as a Liberal Party candidate for the Senate in New South Wales at the
2016 federal election.
In December 2017, during the
parliamentary eligibility crisis, the
High Court declared him elected in place of
Fiona Nash
Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is a former Australian politician. She served as a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2017, representing the National Party. She was the party's deputy leader from 2016 to 2017 and was a ca ...
, who was ineligible to stand.
He was not re-elected to the Senate in the
2019 federal election.
On 10 November 2019, Molan was selected by the
NSW Liberal Party
The New South Wales Liberal Party, officially called the Liberal Party of Australia, New South Wales Division, and colloquially known as the NSW Liberal Party, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party ...
to fill the casual vacancy left by the resignation of Senator
Arthur Sinodinos
Arthur Sinodinos (born 25 February 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former Liberal Party politician who has been Ambassador to the United States since February 2020. He served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard from 1997 to 200 ...
. He was appointed by a joint sitting of the
NSW Parliament
The Parliament of New South Wales is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New S ...
on 14 November 2019.
At the
2022 election, he was re-elected to a six-year term expiring 30 June 2028.
Early life and education
Molan joined the Australian Army following completion of his schooling in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. On graduating from the
Royal Military College, Duntroon
lit: Learning promotes strength
, established =
, type = Military college
, chancellor =
, head_label = Commandant
, head = Brigadier Ana Duncan
, principal =
, city = Campbell
, state = ...
, in 1971, he was allocated to the
Royal Australian Infantry Corps
The Royal Australian Infantry Corps (RA Inf) is the parent corps for all infantry regiments of the Australian Army. It was established on 14 December 1948, with its Royal Corps status being conferred by His Majesty King George VI. At her corona ...
. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
and a
Bachelor of Economics
The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon),
or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics;
the ...
from the
University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
. He is a graduate of the ADF School of Languages where he studied
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
. He maintains an interest in aviation and holds civil commercial licences and instrument ratings for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He is also a Fellow of the
Australian Institute of Company Directors
The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI).
History
The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...
(FAICD) and is accredited as a Master Project Director (MPD).
Military career
Molan has had a long and active military career. Regimental postings include the 1st Battalion,
Pacific Islands Regiment
The Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (RPIR) is an infantry regiment of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). The regiment is descended from the Australian Army infantry battalions formed from native soldiers and Australian officers and non-c ...
(Papua New Guinea) as a rifle platoon commander;
9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment
The 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment (9 RQR) is a Reserve light infantry battalion of the Australian Army, raised and based in the state of Queensland. It is part of the Royal Queensland Regiment and is currently attached to the 11th B ...
, as adjutant; rifle company second-in-command and rifle company commander in the
3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
The 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade. 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen operational serv ...
; Commanding Officer of the
6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment
6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in Brisbane, Queensland, on 6 June 1965 and has since then served in a number of overseas deployments and conf ...
;
Commander of the Army's mechanised
1st Brigade; and Commander of the
1st Division and its Deployable Joint Force Headquarters.
Molan was the Commander of the
Australian Defence College
The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory:
* the War College,
* the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...
, including the
Australian Defence Force Academy
The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) is a tri-service military Academy that provides military and academic education for junior officers of the Australian Defence Force in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and Royal Aus ...
; the
Australian Command and Staff College
The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory:
* the War College,
* the Australian Defence Force Training Ce ...
; and the Australian
Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies
The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory:
* the War College,
* the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...
.
He served as the Army Attache in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
as a
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
between 1992 and 1994 and for this service he was awarded the Indonesian decoration
Bintang Dharma Yudha Nararya in 1995. Between 1998 and 1999, Molan was the Defence Attache in Jakarta as a
brigadier
Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...
and served in
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
. On 25 March 2000 he was upgraded to an
Officer of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
for his service in Indonesia and in East Timor.
In April 2004, he deployed for a year to Iraq. He was despatched to serve as the Chief of Operations for the new Headquarters
Multinational Force in Iraq
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries
* Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries
* Multinational state, a sovereign state that comprises two or more na ...
, which was being planned. However, he initially instead spent some time trying to find a specific role within the headquarters structure, before being allocated responsibility for energy security. He was eventually made Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and served during continuous and intense combat operations. For distinguished command and leadership in this period, he was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries.
*Distinguished Service Cross (Australia)
The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...
,
and the American
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...
. He has been accused of responsibility for planning and carrying out multiple purported war crimes during the attack on Fallujah in late 200
After returning from Iraq he served as Defence Materiel Advocate of the
Defence Materiel Organisation
The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) is an organisation within the Department of Defence (Australia), Australian Department of Defence, responsible for Military acquisition, acquisition and Military supply chain management, su ...
; and Adviser to the
Vice Chief of the Defence Force
The Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) is the military deputy to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) of Australia, and acts as the CDF in his absence under standing acting arrangements. Vice Admiral David Johnston, the incumbent VCDF, has ...
on Joint Warfighting Lessons and Concepts. Major General Molan retired in July 2008.
Post-military
In August 2008 Molan released his first book, ''Running the War in Iraq''.
The book concentrated on his experience as Chief of Operations in Iraq during 2004–05, and contained some criticism about Australia's capacity to engage in military conflict.
In an August 2008 speech, Molan stated that: "Our military competence was far worse than even we thought before East Timor, and people may not realise that the military performance bar has been raised by the nature of current conflict, as illustrated in Iraq and Afghanistan." Writing in a February 2009 article, Molan called for a doubling of the Australian military presence in Afghanistan, from about 1,100 troops to 2,000.
Molan has been associated with the Liberal Party, helping to launch the Liberal opposition party's military-led border protection campaign in the lead up to the
2013 federal election in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
on 25 July 2013. Molan has been an outspoken critic of
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
's management of defence matters.
Stephen Smith, at the time the
Minister for Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, described Molan as 'partisan' and a "Liberal Party activist". In mid-2014 Molan was engaged as an advisor to Minister for Defence
David Johnston
David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...
, but resigned after three weeks. In a subsequent interview Molan implied that his resignation was due to dissatisfaction with Johnston.
Political career
At the
2016 federal election, Molan was a Liberal party senate candidate for New South Wales. However, in what former prime minister Tony Abbott called a "tragedy for our country and for our party", Molan failed to be elected.
In November 2017, the
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution.
The High Court was established fol ...
ruled that Nationals Senator
Fiona Nash
Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is a former Australian politician. She served as a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2017, representing the National Party. She was the party's deputy leader from 2016 to 2017 and was a ca ...
was
ineligible to be elected to the Senate due to her dual British Citizenship. On 22 December, the High Court declared Molan duly elected in place of Nash.
In February 2018 it was revealed that Molan shared, on his personal Facebook page in March 2017, anti-Muslim content from far-right political party Britain First
Britain First is a far-right, British fascist political party formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP). The group was founded by Jim Dowson, an anti-abortion and far-right campaigner.
* ''See also'': The organisa ...
. Molan refused to apologise for his sharing of this material. In response to the Facebook post, Greens MP Adam Bandt
Adam Paul Bandt (born 11 March 1972) is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer who is the leader of the Australian Greens and federal MP for Melbourne. Previously, he served as co-deputy leader of the Greens from 2012 to 2015 and ...
accused Molan of war crimes over his actions in Iraq. Bandt later apologised.
Molan is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party.
2019 federal election
In November 2018, Molan polled the third-highest number of votes in the Liberal Party's Senate preselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...
ballot for the 2019 federal election. Subsequently he was placed in the "unwinnable" fourth position on the Coalition's Senate ticket in New South Wales, below Hollie Hughes, Andrew Bragg, and the Nationals' candidate Perin Davey
Perin McGregor Davey (born 5 February 1972) is an Australian politician who was elected as a Senator for New South Wales at the 2019 Australian federal election. She is a member of the National Party and is its Senate whip. On 30 May 2022, Da ...
.
Molan was disappointed at being relegated to a low-priority position on the official Coalition NSW Senate ticket and spoke of being unable to defend the Liberal Party after the decision. Later, in May 2019 during the Australian Federal election campaign, a row broke out affecting both the Liberal Party and the National Party when Molan began an independent campaign, not supported by the Liberal Party, to be elected. Molan and his supporters began urging voters to ignore the official joint how-to-vote instructions issued by both the Liberal Party and the National Party. Instead, voters were encouraged to vote directly for Molan. This independent campaign was reported in the media as leading to marked divisions within the Liberal and National Parties. Disagreements grew to the extent that in the week before the election, senior officials of the National Party in NSW took the "extraordinary step" of advising voters to ignore the agreed Liberal-National how-to-vote card and vote directly for the preferred National Party candidates. Former deputy prime minister and parliamentary leader of the National Party, Barnaby Joyce
Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who served as the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia under Malcolm Turnbull from 2016 to 2018 and under Scott Morrison from 2021 to 2022. He was the leader of the ...
, was reported as saying that the row threatened to undermine the coalition agreement which existed between the Liberal and National Parties at the federal level.
However, on 10 November 2019, Molan was selected by the NSW Liberal Party
The New South Wales Liberal Party, officially called the Liberal Party of Australia, New South Wales Division, and colloquially known as the NSW Liberal Party, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party ...
to fill the casual vacancy left by the resignation of Senator Arthur Sinodinos
Arthur Sinodinos (born 25 February 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former Liberal Party politician who has been Ambassador to the United States since February 2020. He served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard from 1997 to 200 ...
. He was appointed by a joint sitting of the NSW Parliament
The Parliament of New South Wales is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New S ...
on 14 November 2019, and served the remainder of Sinodinos's six-year term which expires in June 2022.[ Molan was re-elected in 2022.
]
Climate change
On 3 February 2020, on the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
program Q&A, Molan was asked about his declaration that his "mind is open" on whether humans were causing climate change. Asked "What is the evidence you are relying on?", Molan replied: "I'm not relying on evidence..." and was promptly laughed at by the live audience. Molan was challenged about being so open minded that "his brain may fall out" in response to the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season
The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...
and climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
on the same episode of Q&A.
Cancer diagnosis and leave
On 5 April 2021, Molan announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, and that he would be taking leave from the Senate to undergo further testing and treatment.
Published works
Molan has published his opinion on matters related to his expertise, and gives interviews and speeches to recount his experiences. The following is an incomplete list of his published works, interviews, speeches, opinion pieces and debates:
Books
*
*
*
Articles and opinion pieces
*
*[
*
*][
*
*
*; in response to comments made by ]Richard Goldstone
Richard Joseph Goldstone (born 26 October 1938) is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and ...
in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
Speeches, interviews and debates
*
*
*
Personal
Molan is married to Anne and they have three daughters and a son. One of their daughters, Erin Molan
Erin Molan (born 24 August 1984) is an Australian television sports presenter.
She is currently a Primetime Contributor on Sky News Australia, radio presenter on 2Day FM and columnist on The Daily Telegraph.
Molan previously worked with the ...
, was a presenter of the rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
television program, '' The Footy Show''.
Honours and awards
References
External links
bio note
HarperCollins
*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molan, Jim
1950 births
Australian Army officers
Australian generals
Australian military personnel of the Iraq War
Living people
Military personnel from Melbourne
Officers of the Legion of Merit
Officers of the Order of Australia
People educated at Parade College
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (Australia)
Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates
University of New South Wales alumni
University of Queensland alumni
Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors