Police seize 21,000 fake passports in bust

Have Your Say

Latest Comments:

I printed some of these comments and posts out and showed them to my mates at work.... Its not often that a group of Infantry soldiers is lost for words.. But thats what happened. As for myself as a serving soldier of 17 years experience and several operational tours, I am stunned. I do not understand where you people are coming from. I am proud to have served with men like Matt... and I am equally disheartened by the reactions I have read here today. As for this blog...I suppose Winston Churchill said it best - "When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber."
Posted by: Brent of Brisbane 5:00pm today

BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME NOW - RIGHT NOWAs a country we must realise that we are not the Deputy Sherrif - we are 20 million people and cannot stick our nose into every conflict.Yes I support the troops, yes I think theyre great and yes I honour them.What I dont support is the decision to send them to an area of conflict that doesnt affect this country.
Posted by: RKS of Perth 4:55pm today

RIP SGT Locke. After reading the responses here - I too am "Worried for Oz". A sad day indeed when the brave, dedicated and selfless are not honoured.
Posted by: John of Sacramento, California 4:54pm today

Read all 194 comments

We welcome your comments on this story. Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Please provide your full name. We also require a working email address - not for publication, but for verification. The location field is optional.Read our publication guidelines.

Submit your feedback here:

Search for more stories on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Click here

SPECIAL forces sergeant Matthew Locke, killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, was a "genuine hero" and an inspirational leader to his men, defence chiefs say.

The Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) patrol commander was wounded in the chest during a battle with Taliban forces in Oruzgan province yesterday.

Sgt Locke, the Perth-based father of a young son, was given first aid by his comrades and evacuated to a medical facility, but died shortly afterwards.

Last year, in the same region, he earned the Medal for Gallantry for displaying "courage of the highest order" in another battle against Taliban forces.

"The nation today has lost a genuine hero. The army has lost a gallant and respected soldier," the Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General Peter Leahy, said in Sydney.

Lt-Gen Leahy and Governor-General Michael Jeffery, himself a former SAS commander, paid tribute to the soldier whose leadership and bravery in a battle at the Chora Pass in June 2006 earned him the military`s third highest honour.

Sgt Locke helped his patrol beat off a Taliban attack and escape its isolated position without loss of life.

"He is one of those soldiers you can depend on, a real Aussie soldier," said Lt-Gen Leahy.

"Someone who was a leader, someone who was inspirational, and someone that young soldiers could look up to."

Major-General Jeffery added: "Sergeant Locke was a magnificent soldier, he was brave, he was an absolute professional but he also had a wonderful sense of humour and was very compassionate."

Prime Minister John Howard broke from campaigning in Perth to make a private visit with his wife Janette to speak to Sgt Locke`s SAS colleagues at Campbell Barracks.

Labor Leader Kevin Rudd, who arrived in Perth today, was planning to do the same.

Sgt Locke`s death comes less than three weeks after Trooper David Pearce was killed by a roadside bomb in the same region.

Mr Howard vowed the losses would not deter the nation in its fight against the Taliban.

However, the Federal Government highlighted the need for NATO to carry its share of the burden in Afghanistan.

"It`s not going to alter out commitment, we have a sizable force there ... and we can`t really send any more, we don`t have a need to send more, we`re not planning to send more, but we`re equally not planning to pull it back," Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

Australia has suffered fewer combat deaths in Afghanistan than many of its coalition partners but Mr Howard said conditions were dangerous and only likely to get worse.

"What`s happened is the Taliban has stepped up its offensive against our forces and the forces of our coalition partners," he said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Defence Minister Brendan Nelson reinforced the need for NATO to do its share of the "heavy lifting".

"We are concerned that NATO, which has amongst it 2.4 million troops available to it, has a little over 40,000 deployed to Afghanistan," Dr Nelson told reporters.

"A number of those countries have caveats on their troops, which means they are not coming to the south. The heavy lifting ... is being done by the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and a handful of other countries.

Mr Downer noted much of the NATO force was in Afghanistan`s north where "it is a good deal quieter and a less threatening environment".

The Afghan embassy in Canberra expressed its regret over the death of Sgt Locke, who joined the defence force in 1991 and had also served in East Timor and Iraq.

Sgt Locke`s death brings to three the number of Australian soldiers who have died in action since the Vietnam War.

SAS Sergeant Andrew Russell, a member of Australia`s first deployment to Afghanistan, died in February 2002 when his vehicle hit a landmine.peAAP