Retiring Chief of NZ Defence Force
The outgoing Chief of Defence says he will accept responsibility if an inquiry rules there was failure in the way
Defence handled allegations of civilian deaths in Afghanistan.
Chief of Defence Force Tim Keating Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Hit & Run authors Jon Stephenson and Nicky Hager argued in their book that six civilians were killed and 15 injured in a raid on
two Afghan villages in 2010 that involved members of the New Zealand Defence Force.
Defence has always denied the allegations and an inquiry into the events has been set up.
Chief of Defence Force Tim Keating told Nine to Noon today his view remained the same, that "civilian causalities may have occurred".
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Mr Keating said he supported the inquiry and if it was found there was negligence, he would accept responsibility for
that.
"The Defence Force will accept responsibility and will carry out justice ... if it was found that I was negligent in
reviewing the facts of the case that it didn't reach the level of well-founded, of course I'll accept responsibility,"
Mr Keating said.
He said he understood how tough it was in the battlefield and the Defence Force was tough on its own personnel.
As well as dealing with the Hit & Run allegations, the Defence chief has also had to tackle the persistent sexism within the armed forces after a 2015 review.
As a result, he established Operation Respect, an independent panel which has led to a rollout of sexual ethics and healthy relationships throughout the
organisation.
The panel also started working with the Drug Foundation to review its drug policy and how it responded to drug use, Mr
Keating said.
He will leave the top job at the end of the week and was being replaced by Air Vice-Marshal Kevin Short.