| abstract | - Brigadier Alfred Barrett "Alf" Garland AM (19 March 1932 – 9 March 2002) was an Australian military serviceman, and the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) National President from 1988 – 1993. Garland had a distinguished military career, and attracted media attention by being outspoken on many controversial social issues, often antagonising the Keating government at the time. Brigadier Garland's army career spanned 35 years. In 1965, he commanded the 1st Special Air Service squadron against Indonesian forces in Borneo. During the Vietnam War, he was second-in-command of the RAR, and was appointed Australia's chief liaison officer to US forces. He was President of the ACT branch of the RSL, before becoming the RSL National President in 1988. Garland was elected as the Australian Monarchist League delegate from NSW at the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention. He joined Bruce Ruxton in campaigning against the notion of Australia becoming a republic. The two sat next to each other, angering republican delegates by opposing them on almost every point. In one attempt to filibuster debate, Garland recounted his family's loyalty to the Crown beginning in medieval times. He was Chairman of both the Australian Monarchist League NSW and ACT branches. Garland also opposed the construction of the Japanese funded technology city known as the Multifunction Polis (MFP). He died at age 69, after a long battle with motor neurone disease.
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