Geoff McGibbon |
| FAKE HERO By SARAH BLAKE and CLARE MASTERS 06 February 2005 A MAN who falsely claimed a distinguished military career with the elite Special Air Service in Vietnam was last month awarded an Order of Australia Medal from the Governor-General. Government House said yesterday it was reviewing the award to retired Gold Coast swimming pool manager Geoff McGibbon, who marched with SAS and Vietnam veterans on at least two Anzac days in the late 1980s. Mr McGibbon is a fellow of the Royal Lifesaving Association and his OAM was awarded for his services to the RLSAA and sport. Contacted at his Gold Coast home, Mr McGibbon yesterday admitted he had lied about being an SAS member. He said also he had been on the Vietnam veterans' Welcome Home Committee in 1987 and had claimed to have served Australia in the Vietnam War. "Many years ago, I did the wrong thing. I was having a very bad time with my marriage and I was on the grog and I got involved and it all got out of proportion," he said. "It was (going on for) about three years and it was a problem. It wasn't just five minutes. I got deeper and deeper in, and it was harder and harder to get out." Mr McGibbon apologised and said he would "face the music". He said he was worried the medal would be taken away, and if it was, that was fine. Former fellow members of the SAS Association in Canberra said Mr McGibbon had often sported an SAS service beret and medals he had not earned during his membership of their circle in the late 1980s. But Mr McGibbon said yesterday he had never worn false medals. The Australian Federal Police said it was a federal criminal offence to falsely wear medals, Retired SAS major John Thurgar, a former head of the ACT SAS association who holds a Star of Courage medal and is president of the Australian Bravery Association, said Mr McGibbon's claims were a fantasy. "He purported to have been a member of the SAS and on that basis he was taken on trust and taken as a member of the association," said Mr Thurgar, who served in Vietnam. "We were a social group and we would meet on Anzac days and regiment birthdays and other occasions. He (Mr McGibbon) was found out and asked not to come to our functions in 1987." Mr Thurgar said he had confronted Mr McGibbon with proof he had lied in 1987 and said he had apologised and promised to stop saying he had been in the SAS or Vietnam. Royal Lifesaving yesterday stood by Mr McGibbon. "He has been involved with us for many years. He has received recognition from us for his dedication and service to Royal Lifesaving," a spokesman said. Federal laws prohibit the false wearing of medals. "Family members and relatives are allowed to wear medals on the right hand side, but to falsely wear a medal without any sense of good claim is an offence," an AFP spokesman said. Awarding the OAM has angered the former peers of Mr McGibbon, who want it revoked. Under the Australia Day honours system, there is an appeals mechanism allowing anyone who thinks the award is undeserved to make their case. This was used for bankrupt and disgraced WA businessman Alan Bond. "Suggestion of any inappropriate behaviour brought to the attention of the Council for the Order of Australia would be considered," a Government House source said. Mr Thurgar said Mr McGibbon's claims were discovered in 1987, about the time of the Australian Government's Welcome Home March to previously unheralded Vietnam veterans. Mr McGibbon was nominated for the OAM by Margaret Reid, a former ACT Liberal senator and long-serving president of the Senate, and Tony Bandle, an accountant who also works for the Greenfields Foundation, the Liberals' major fundraising arm. |