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His Excellency Major-General Philip Michael Jeffery (born 12 December 1937), a retired military officer, is serving as the 24th Governor-General of Australia. He was born in Wiluna, Western Australia and was educated at state schools in Perth. 1 Military Service
At 16 he left Perth to attend the Royal Military College, Duntroon , in Canberra.
After graduation in 1958, Jeffery served in a number of junior positions before being posted to Malaya in 1962 for operational service. From 1966 to 1969 he served in Papua New Guinea. During this posting he married Marlena Kerr of Sydney. This was followed by a tour of duty in Vietnam during which he was awarded the Military CrossThe Military Cross (MC) is awarded by the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada for distinquished and meritorious services in battle. It was originally awarded to commissioned officers of the substantive rank of Captain or below or Warrant Officers. The MC. Jeffery remained convinced that Australia's participation in the Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a war fought between 1957 and 1975 on the ground in South Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia and Laos See Secret War) and in bombing runs ( Rolling Thunder) over North Vietnam. See also the timeline of the Vietnam War. Fighting on was right. "I believe passionately that Vietnam was a just cause in the circumstances of the time," he said in an interview.
In 19721972 is a leap year starting on Saturday (click link for calendar). Events January events January 2 the Pierre Hotel Heist Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of the Pierre Hotel in New York City. Loot is at least $4 million January 5 President of the Un Jeffery was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel to command the 2nd Battalion of the Pacific Islands Regiment. In 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i, he assumed command of the SASThe Australian SAS regiment, based on the British original, is based in Perth, Western Australia. Regimental Motto: Who Dares Wins The SAS were involved in the U. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The details of their involve in Perth, and was then promoted to Colonel as the first Director of the Army's Special Action Forces. From 1981Events January-February January Sarawak Chamber found January 1 Greece enters the EEC January 1 Palau becomes self-governing January 4 Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper January 16 Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette D to 1983Events January January 1 Beat Raaflaub became Basel Boys Choir's new conductor January 1 the ARPANET officially changes to use the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet. January 1 compulsory wearing of seat belts becomes law in the UK. January 2 The mu he headed Australia's national counter-terrorist co-ordination authority. In 1985 he was promoted to Major-General and appointed to command the Army's 1st Division. In 1990 he became Deputy Chief of the General Staff and in 1991 he was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff for Materiel.
2 Governor
In November 1993 Jeffery was appointed Governor of Western Australia, and in June 1996 he became a Companion of the Order of Australia. He was also appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
During his seven years in the post Jeffery made a number of public statements of his conservative views on marriage, sex and education, and received some criticism from the Labor opposition and sections of the media for appearing to take positions on political issues.
On the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, for example, Jeffery said: "Baser instincts are titillated in the television displays of events like the Mardi Gras, where the colour and spectacle of fancy dress camouflages a public display of simulated homosexual activity and the degradation of traditional religions in the name of humour."
He also said: "A British study found a direct statistical link between single parenthood and virtually every type of major crime, including mugging, violence against strangers, car theft and burglary. And the same is true... in Western Australia."
