By John McLean, author of “A Mission of Honour; The Royal Navy in the Pacific, 1769-1997”.
In my article of a couple of days ago on the HMNZS Manawanui disaster, entitled “Is The Navy Fit For Purpose?”, I raised the issue of the perceived over-promotion of minority groups in the services at the expense of the efficiency of our defence forces.
Speculation is rife throughout the country as in both general conversation and on social media (usually a truer reflection of opinion than the mainstream media) the suspicion is that the captain of HMNZS Manawanui, Commander Yvonne Gray, was over-promoted because she ticked the boxes of being both female and lesbian.
Instead of facing this issue and providing some facts to rebut such a presumption the Navy has compounded the problem by appointing as chair of the Inquiry into the disaster yet another person who can only too easily be perceived to be another of its over-promoted women – in this case Commodore Melissa Ross, who also ticks the boxes that seem to be more and more important in naval promotions – in her case being both female and part-Maori.
So passionate is she about the importance of promoting women in the Navy (apparently because they are women rather than on merit) that the Navy website of 6 December, 2019, stated of her: “She is passionate about the development of women in the military and was co-chair of the N.Z. Defence Force’s Women’s Development Steering Group, which she helped create”.
She gave away her prejudices in her own words: “With women in the Navy, we still have work to do to create the environment where they can thrive” (presumably at the expense of men). And yet the speaker of this sexist nonsense has been appointed by her fellow feminist, Judith Collins, to investigate the sinking of the Manawanui by another woman officer, Yvonne Gray whose ability to tick various boxes is widely believed to have been the reason for her rapid promotion to command of the $100 million vessel that, under her command, sank in Samoan waters.
How could anyone have faith in such an Inquiry, headed by one who appears to be so fanatically committed to her fellow female officers as to bring her objectivity into doubt? Commodore Ross is the very last person who should be involved in an inquiry into the sinking of the Manawanui. Much of the blame for this continuing “train crash” can be laid at the feet of Judith Collins who, as Minister of Defence, was responsible for appointing her fellow feminist, Melissa Ross, to head the inquiry.
Instead of trying to rebut the obvious presumption that Yvonne Gray might have been appointed to command due to her ability to tick certain boxes of political correctness that the Navy apparently now deems so essential to promotion, Judith Collins resorted to smear tactics, which are always easier than giving truthful answers to allegations. Those who dared to point out that the purpose of the Navy is to defend the country and that this can best be achieved by promotion on merit rather than gender/sexual orientation were damned by Collins as “misogynists” and “armchair admirals”.
The Inquiry seems to be organised so that the Navy can protect its own back as well as its policies, including – and especially – the criteria for promotion in this ever more feminine (and feminist) service. As Peter Cresswell pointed out on his Not PC Blog (pc.blogspot.com) “An inquiry by the Navy about the Navy doesn’t give confidence that we’ll ever know much more”.
The New Zealand Navy is a small affair where everybody knows everybody else and that is especially true of the coterie of powerful female officers who all seem to be of the same stripe – of advancing women (and covering up for them?) at the expense of men. Obviously Melissa Ross and Yvonne Gray know each other – probably very well. If a litigant in court is known to the judge, that is always pointed out and the judge will normally remove himself from the case. So why not follow this rule for the naval Inquiry?
For an Inquiry to be credible in should be headed by the Judge Advocate of the Armed Forces with two others: one from Britain’s Royal Navy and the other from the Royal Australian Navy. Only then could the public, whose taxes have to pay for a $130 million replacement vessel, have confidence in the outcome of the Inquiry. The choice of Melissa Ross to head it is yet another example of Judith Collins’ notoriously bad judgement. Former Defence Minister, Ron Mark, would never have made such a blunder.
Not surprisingly, the continuing absence of any meaningful information from the Navy has fuelled the rumour mill. One of these rumours is that Yvonne Gray’s “wife”, Sharon, was also on board the Manawanui when she sank. This is either true or false; it would be helpful if the Navy (or its Minister) would either confirm or deny it. As the well-paid Minister of Defence, Judith Collins has a lot of questions to answer and merely smearing those who ask them is not good enough. This thing is becoming a bigger mess by the day.