thomson is gone ,  its the secret blokes club in charge now, using ex members does nothing to enhance the weak argument you put.

 pre-selected when he was dirty is an assumption. they , knowing the likes of jackson believed him. an error of judgement. both he and jackson are dirty not just one.

 slipper was pre-selected what Six times ?  kind of knocks that line of attack on the head

It is the Government and not the military who make policy, and it is the Government and not service personal who should respond to questions in connection with it. 

Therefore, if the government position is that limiting the amount of information being provided is in the national interest, then that is the position the military must take, irrespective if they agree with it or not, and Conroy know this or should have known this.  As such, he has demonstrateda  complete unfitness to hold that position.

But then he does come from a long line of Labor politicians, starting with Whitlam, who believe that as long as there is a political advantage to be gained from it, it's okay to vilify, alienate and marginalise service personal.

No, it comes down to whether the guy is involved in a political cover up and it is clear he is, it is up to the opposition to take him to task on that.

 if the man is forbidden to speak and merely attends to stonewall the committee he shouldn't attend at all. its the government who put him in that position, its morrisons cloak and dagger BS that put this chap in the firing line.. he should stand up to morrison and say 'you go , its you that thinks that you are James Bond'' or something similar.

and it was John Howard TB who verballed the navy over Tampa along with reith and ruddock.  you're assertion that its a labor thing doesn't hold up.

You hit it on the head. 

He should never have been called at all and the fact that speaks volumes as to Conroy’s intent by requiring he attend.

All politician do it, but Labor developed it into an art form.  Ask any Vietnam Vet.

In fact Tampa a good case in point.  Howard was able to say anything he liked because he knew that Navy could not publically respond. 

Yesterday Conroy did exactly the same.

So some robust statements were made in a Senate Estimates hearing ?  Big deal.   It has been a feature of Senate Estimates for a long time and hopefully will continue.  It's an essential part of the political process and at least gives a bit of transparency to government actions.

Both parties have been guilty of making a strong impression at these hearings. I hope that you don't think Conroy is alone in this, some of the LNP antics at Senate Estimates make this look like playtime.

Just because the bloke is in uniform doesn't give him some special dispensation.