Federal Labor's candidate for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly has resigned from the ADF standby reserve after he was told to remove all images of himself in military uniform from campaign material.
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The request came a day after high profile backbencher and former Special Forces soldier Andrew Hastie was sacked from the standby reserves after breaching strict rules designed to protect the apolitical nature of the ADF.
The Canning MP had refused to remove a 2009 photo of himself in military uniform from campaign advertising, an act of disobedience that prompted his sacking.
Mr Kelly, who is hoping to reclaim the bellwether seat from assistant cabinet secretary Dr Peter Hendy, joined the military in 1987 and was posted to Somalia, East Timor, Bosnia and Iraq.
Images of himself in army fatigues feature on his social media accounts and on election flyers
Mr Kelly said he had used the images during four previous campaigns without a problem and his only option was to resign from the reserve force.
"I didn't have much choice here," he said. "We had already spent a lot of money on the campaign material and I have a lot of low income earners who have contributed and I felt as though I couldn't let them down."
"It is sad for me personally as this marks the end of nearly 30 years of attachment to the Australian Army and it's a part of who I see myself as."
A Defence spokesman said Dr Kelly did not contact the ADF to seek permission before using the photos.
"As a condition of their service, regular and reserve members of the Australian Defence Force are obliged to comply with various Defence instructions and policies," the spokesman said.
"ADF members are therefore not permitted to participate in any political activity in uniform, unless they are pre-approved to do so by an appropriate authority."
Mr Kelly said the ADF's decision to contact him was triggered by other candidates using military images on billboards, rather than leaflets.
"I think the consensus is understandable given some of the more public manifestations of this material by other candidates, which has raised sensitivities around this."
Labor candidate for Brisbane Pat O'Neill has also been asked by the ADF to remove pictures that showed him wearing army fatigues. He has agreed to take down the billboards depicting him in his army uniform.
On Thursday, Fairfax Media reported the ADF was seriously considering asking the next government to change the law to prohibit election campaign material featuring military uniforms.
