{"id":41152,"date":"2026-10-11T04:51:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T17:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=41152"},"modified":"2026-10-11T04:51:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T17:51:53","slug":"greater-recognition-for-rifle-company-butterworth-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/greater-recognition-for-rifle-company-butterworth-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater recognition for Rifle Company Butterworth veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Australian Government will reclassify service at Butterworth in Malaysia between 1970 and 1989 as \u2018non-warlike service\u2019, replacing the previous \u2018peacetime service\u2019 classification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This decision acknowledges the unique environment in which Australian Defence Force personnel served while protecting RAAF Base Butterworth and supporting Australia&#8217;s longstanding security commitment in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The decision follows a Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal Inquiry into Medallic Recognition for Service with Rifle Company Butterworth, which recommended this change. The Government has accepted the Tribunal\u2019s recommendations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Australian Government acknowledges that recognition has been sought by Butterworth veterans, families and ex-service organisations for some time. Their advocacy has helped ensure the experiences of those who served at Rifle Company Butterworth have been properly considered and understood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We acknowledge those who served with Rifle Company Butterworth and of the role they played in advancing Australia&#8217;s interests abroad.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To all those who served, the Australian Government recognises your contribution and thanks you for your service. These veterans will continue to be recognised with the Australian Service Medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Importantly, following registration of the legislative instruments, recognition as non-warlike service may provide access to additional veterans&#8217; entitlements and support as well as more beneficial claims assessment for conditions relating to this service.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Minister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs and Defence Personnel, the Hon Matt Keogh MP:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Veterans who deployed with Rifle Company Butterworth between 1970 and 1989 made a valuable contribution to the security and stability of Malaysia during a time of uncertainty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The Government values their service, and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve carefully considered their submissions, as well as the recommendations of the independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Australian Government will reclassify service at Butterworth in Malaysia between 1970 and 1989 as \u2018non-warlike service\u2019, replacing the previous \u2018peacetime service\u2019 classification. This decision acknowledges the unique environment in which Australian Defence Force personnel served while protecting RAAF Base Butterworth and supporting Australia&#8217;s longstanding security commitment in the region. The decision follows a Defence &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/greater-recognition-for-rifle-company-butterworth-veterans\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Greater recognition for Rifle Company Butterworth veterans&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41153,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41152\/revisions\/41153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}