Brigadier Alfred Barrett Garland, AM (19 March 1932 – 9 March 2002) was an Australian Army officer, and National President of the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) from 1988 to 1993. Garland had a distinguished military career, and attracted media attention by being outspoken on many controversial social issues, often antagonising the Keating government at the time.

Military career

Garland's army career spanned 35 years. In 1965, he commanded the 1st

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

squadron against Indonesian forces in Borneo. During the Vietnam War, he was second-in-command of the

7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (7 RAR) is a regular infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1965 as part of Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War and it eventually served two tours in Vietnam in ...

, and was appointed Australia's chief liaison officer to

US forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

National Presidency of the RSL and activism

Garland was President of the Australian Capital Territory branch of the RSL, before becoming the RSL National President in 1988. Garland was elected as the Australian Monarchist League delegate from New South Wales at the

1998 Australian Constitutional Convention The 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2 to 13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard Government to discuss whether Australia should become a rep ...

. He joined

Bruce Ruxton Bruce Carlyle Ruxton, AM, OBE (6 February 192623 December 2011) was an Australian ex-serviceman and President of the Victorian Returned and Services League from 1979 to 2002. Early life Ruxton grew up in Kew, Victoria. He attended Melbourne H ...

in campaigning against the notion of Australia becoming a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

. The two sat next to each other, angering republican delegates by opposing them on almost every point. In one attempt to

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

debate, Garland recounted his family's loyalty to the Crown beginning in medieval times. Garland was Chairman of both the

Australian Monarchist League The Australian Monarchist League (AML) is an incorporated nonprofit organisation, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, promoting and educating on the Australian Constitution and monarchy. The organisation was part of the "no" campaign in the ...

NSW and ACT branches. Garland also opposed the construction of the Japanese funded technology city known as the

Multifunction Polis The Multifunction Polis (MFP) was a controversial scheme for a planned community in Australia proposed in 1987 and abandoned in 1998. From the Greek word "polis", meaning "city", it was imagined as a place where work and leisure, lifetime edu ...

(MFP). Garland was also opposed to Asian immigration, saying in 1988 Australia must alter the selection of immigrants to ensure Australia remained "predominantly European"."We want to retain Australia for Australians,". Garland died at age 69, after a long battle with motor neurone disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Alf 1932 births 2002 deaths Australian brigadiers Anti-Asian sentiment in Oceania Anti-Asian sentiment in Australia Australian military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Australian military personnel of the Korean War Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Australian monarchists Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 Members of the Order of Australia Military personnel from New South Wales