00:01The Australian Defence Force has confirmed that the tragedy which unfolded at Mount Bundy
00:07training area yesterday afternoon was the result of a military vehicle rollover. They confirmed
00:14there were six Australian Army soldiers traveling in that vehicle at the time. One 28-year-old man
00:20was killed and five others were taken to hospital as a result of their injuries. Now Mount Bundy
00:27training area is located around 100 kilometres southeast of Darwin. It's a 10,000 hectare area
00:34used by the Australian Army and their allies primarily for live fire training exercises.
00:42Sadly this is not the first death to occur there. Back in 2017 a 25-year-old soldier was tragically
00:50shot and killed during one of those live fire training exercises. Now there have been several
00:57political leaders and members of the community who have come out to express their deepest condolences
01:03in regards to what unfolded yesterday. One being the Northern Territory's Chief Minister Leah
01:08Fanocchiaro. She spoke to media this morning. I want to offer our sincerest condolences to the family
01:15of the young service personnel who lost their life yesterday. The Northern Territory supported two
01:23injured evacuations by helicopter to Royal Darwin Hospital at about 7.30 last night and another three
01:30by plane at about 9.30 last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family who are obviously
01:37devastated by this loss and of course the support of our entire community is there for all of our
01:42service personnel who will be feeling this loss immensely. The Federal Minister for Defence Personnel,
01:48Matt Keogh, was also asked about this tragedy and whether or not the defence training in Australia
01:56is safe enough or fit for purpose. Here's what he had to say in response.
02:02Our condolences go out to that soldier's family and friends and the entire Australian Army community.
02:08It's very sad whenever we lose anyone from our Australian Defence Force no matter the circumstances.
02:15the family has been notified and there was a number of others that were injured and family
02:21are all aware of that and obviously all of our best wishes go to those that have been affected
02:26and our condolences go to the family. No matter how someone in our Australian Defence Force
02:32passes away it's tragic and we want to make sure that their families and the people who work with them
02:39are supported whenever that occurs. But we also have been making sure that our training systems
02:47are fit for purpose and that training is conducted in the safest way possible and that's something
02:52that we've engaged with Army and the entire Defence Force around ensuring that those systems are as
02:57safe as they can be, recognising that there are unique circumstances when it comes to Defence Force
03:02training that mean there are higher levels of risk.
03:05Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also expressed his condolences to the families
03:11of the soldiers involved in yesterday's accident and he said it's a reminder of the risks that
03:19our Defence men and women take on when they are involved in these training exercises.
03:25We also know that the Northern Territory Police are now involved in an investigation into exactly
03:31what unfolded at Mount Bundy yesterday and that they are assisting with the coronial process.
