Soldiers from the 7th Combat Brigade prepare their trucks in Brisbane last week. Photo: Department of Defence 2025
Defence Minister Richard Marles has reaffirmed the military’s role in disaster relief operations after the crash of two Army trucks near Lismore on Saturday left six soldiers seriously injured.
Thirteen people were injured when the Rheinmetall MAN 40M trucks crashed 9km south-west of Lismore at 5.15pm as part of a flood relief convoy.
Marles told journalists in Canberra that the ADF can, and will, help out when asked about a Defence Strategic Review finding that the military wasn’t designed or equipped for disaster response among its other duties.
“… the Defence Strategic Review referred to the fact that an increasing number of climate events was giving rise to an increasing use of the Defence Force in terms of natural disasters,” he said.
In the big picture, he said, Defence has to be “the last port of call” for disaster relief.
“That said, it … will always be the case, while we are here, that Defence will be there ready to provide support when they have unique assets that can be provided.”
“Now in this instance, the vehicles that Defence had, the personnel that they had, were enormously useful in respect of route clearance,” he pointed out.
CRASHES
Emergency services were called to Tregeagle Rd, Tregeagle, after reports that an Army truck had rolled several times into a paddock.
Police says a second truck tipped over as it tried to avoid the first vehicle, and that there was no collision.
Each of the trucks had 16 Brisbane-based combat engineers onboard at the time, said Defence Minister Richard Marles.
They were involved in disaster relief as Tropical Cyclone Alfred swept into Brisbane over the weekend and headed inland as a tropical low.
Richmond Police, paramedics, Fire and Rescue NSW, SES and RFS crews members worked with ADF personnel to remove and treat the 32 occupants before they were taken to hospitals in Lismore, Tweed Heads, Ballina and Byron Bay with 13 requiring treatment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later confirmed that six of those 13 soldiers sustained serious injuries.
“I am hugely grateful to emergency services and healthcare workers for the first aid and ongoing care. All of their families have now been notified,” he said.
NSW Police and military investigators are continuing to look into the crashes.
