Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Project

Lieutenant General (Retd) John Sanderson, AC retired from the position of Governor-General of his home state, Western Australia, in October 2005 after more than five years in that role. For most of the preceding 40 years he was engaged at the operational and strategic levels of defence and security planning. During his military career he commanded at all levels including on operational service in Borneo, Vietnam and Cambodia. He was Chief of the Australian Army 1995-1998 and commanded the United Nations Peacekeeping Force during the period of UN transition authority in Cambodia(UNTAC) from the beginning of the mission in March 1992 until its successful completion in October 1993.

Lieutenant General Sanderson has had a long term interest in the philosophy and the practical dimensions of international intervention and is widely published on these subjects. He has lectured on the subject of peace building at many institutions and has been a strong advocate of human rights as the basis of national and international reconciliation. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the Australian Staff College, the Joint Services Staff College and the United States Army War College.

His services have been recognized by the award of Member of the Order of Australia (1985), Officer of the Order (1991), Companion of the Order (1994), The United States of America Legion of Merit (Commander Class) and the Grand Cross of the Royal Cambodian Order (2006). A civil engineer by background, he is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and holds honorary doctorates from a number of institutions. He is an Adjunct Professor of both Murdoch University and Griffith University.