Collins Targets 'Armchair Admirals' Over 'Misogynistic' Attacks

Thursday, 10 October 2024, 7:40 pm
Article: RNZ

Defence Minister Judith Collins has lashed out at what she calls "deeply misogynist" comments about the sinking of the HMS Manawanui and its captain, Commander Yvonne Gray.

Collins said that Gray has been attacked online since the sinking of the ship off the coast of Samoa over the weekend.

Collins said a "deeply concerning misogynist narrative reared its head before our people had even made it home to New Zealand."

Collins said a Court of Inquiry has been already planned to examine the cause of the wreck.

"The one thing that we already know did not cause it was the gender of the ship's captain, a woman with 30 years of naval experience who made the call to get her people to safety.

"I'm appalled to see the comments online from these armchair admirals, people who will never have to make decisions which mean life or death for their subordinates."

Collins said she had heard female defence force officials were being "abused in the street" over this incident.

Defence Force personnel should be supported, "and their gender should never come into play".

"I am New Zealand's first female defence minister, the Army has its first female chief of army, Major-General Rose King. Manawanaui's captain, Commander Yvonne Gray, is female.

"We are all appointed on merit, not gender."

Collins said she looked up the details of one of what she called the "keyboard warriors" attacking Gray online.

"He's from Melbourne, in Australia, commenting in a very negative way on our Royal New Zealand Navy, and particularly the women.

"I looked to see what else I could find about him," she said, and the man was a truck driver.

"I think he should keep his comment to people who drive trucks rather than people who drive ships."

"These are the sorts of people I'm calling out and I'm happy to call them out for as long as it takes to stop this behaviour. Because you know, New Zealanders are better than this. Be better."

Collins has also spoken on the cleanup efforts, saying that much of the work was going well and the fuel was being contained.

"There are reports of some small leaks but these are very small amounts, and they are from the pipes that take the fuel around the ship, not the storage tanks."

She said current estimates were that little or none of that initial fuel had come to shore or ended up on the reef, and is being dispersed out to sea by wind and waves.

"While this remains an incredibly serious incident, and it will be for a long time to come, it is tracking as well as we could hope for at this point."

Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding said the Court of Inquiry would allow the Navy to identify possible improvements and changes to avoid a repeat of the sinking, he said.

Golding said he was directing the inquiry to look at the sequence of events leading up to the grounding, the ship's activity at the time and damage control following the grounding.

"This is as you can imagine an incredibly complex investigation that requires a high level of detail, specialist skills and integrity in order to ensure that it is conducted to the standard that we expect."

Golding announced that Commodore Melissa Ross would be the president of the court and joined by Captain Andrew Mahoney, Group Captain John McWilliam from the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Captain Dean Battilana, who had been seconded from the Royal Australian Navy.

The court will assemble on Friday.

"Given the high level of public interest in this and with transparency at front of mind, I will make the report publicly available to the maximum extent possible consistent with the Privacy Act and my obligations to uphold national security," Rear Admiral Golding said.

"I have directed the Court to provide me with an interim report on specific areas by mid-November, and then to provide regular updates on the progress of their inquiry from there."

New Zealand's deputy chief of navy says there are no oil leaks coming from the sunken Manawanui, but that officials are monitoring the situation closely.

His comments conflict with Samoa's Marine Pollution Advisory Committee deep sea divers, who have confirmed the sunken vessel is leaking diesel fuel into the ocean, off the south coast of Upolu.

The ship was carrying about 950 tonnes of diesel at the time it hit the reef on Saturday night, caught fire and then sank early on Sunday morning.

The committee is also reporting drone video and stills photography have confirmed the wreck is emitting contaminants into the water.

However, Commodore Andrew Brown told Morning Report his latest update Thursday morning was that the oil was contained.

"The fuel is contained within its fuel tanks and we've got no indication of any leaking coming from those tanks," Brown said.

This is being monitored very closely daily and New Zealand divers will be assessing the fuel status Thursday, he said.

He said he was working very closely on the ground with Samoan government officials.

RNZ reporter Louise Ternouth is on Samoa's southern coast and went out on the water with the defence force on Wednesday.

"Before we were even told we had reached where the vessel was - which took up to an hour to get out there - you could smell it, you could smell the pungent petrol fumes and we knew we were in the right spot.

"We also saw an oil slick on the water which the New Zealand Defence Force maintains is residual fuel from the initial sinking."

On Tuesday Chief of Navy rear admiral Garin Golding said at that point no leak was confirmed but "we anticipate if there is oil coming ashore it's definitely going to be from Manawanui so our efforts are going to be on supporting the Samoan government with environmental impacts".

Residents in Samoa fear potential oil or chemical spillage from the Manawanui could be disastarous for the local environment and businesses.

Local Manu Percival told Morning Report earlier this week the mess would have a huge effect on tourism, along with on local communities as the area was used for food and surfing, and is a home for marine life.

Manager at Coconuts Beach Club at Maninoa, Brian Rose, said the lagoon has a sizeable turtle population - a major tourist attraction.

Minister of Defence Judith Collins has said the environmental impact was the government's main focus, alongside a salvage operation.

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