The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in Australia one month ago. Prince Harry did at least two events with Invictus Australia, including announcing a new Invictus program specifically for Australia. Harry and Meghan also took part in an Invictus event in Sydney, and they met several Team Oz competitors. All of that is in addition to Harry traveling to Canberra to visit the Australian War Memorial, placing a poppy on the Wall of Remembrance’s Afghanistan section, laying a wreath at the memorial, viewing the Last Post Ceremony and meeting with an all-female honor guard. Harry was extremely veterans-forward during the Oz trip. One month later, the Australian government gutted funding for Invictus Australia, in addition to gutting the funding of veterans programs across the board.
One of the Invictus Games charities backed by Prince Harry fears for its future after the Australian government cut all its funding. Invictus Australia, whose members the Duke and Duchess of Sussex met on their trip to the country last month, will not have its £4.83million three-year support renewed. The decision by Australia’s Labour government, in new budget announced on Tuesday, took charity leaders by surprise.
It comes after it was announced this week a key trustee of Harry’s Invictus Games next year in Birmingham was separately stepping down.
The withdrawal of Australian funding follows Harry and Meghan’s visit to the country last month, meeting members of Invictus Australia and announcing a new sports festival due to be held in Perth later this year. He and Meghan took part in a sailing tour after his visit to the Australian War Memorial, with a reception for Invictus Australia and the Last Post Ceremony.
Invictus Australia is a veterans’ charity that connects current and former serving personnel and their families to sporting communities across the country. Its officials say they were taken aback by the decision not to renew their funding, announced in Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ new federal budget on Tuesday. And officials have warned there could now be struggles to send an Australian team to the next Games scheduled for next year at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. The Australian government previously promised AUS$9million (£4.83million) across three years for the charity in the 2022-2023 budget.
Invictus Australia’s chief executive Michael Hartung revealed he only learnt of the funding withdrawal hours before the budget was tabled in parliament. He told ABC Sport: ‘We really only found out yesterday evening and that has left us with a fair degree of shock. Removing this funding removes access to a proven pathway for recovery.’
He described how three quarters of the organisation’s funding came from the federal government, adding in a statement on the charity’s website: ‘For many veterans, Invictus Australia is not a recreational outlet. It is a lifeline. With demand already outstripping our capacity, this decision risks pushing vulnerable veterans and their families further into isolation. If we are truly committed to veteran wellbeing, support for this work must continue so we can keep delivering evidence backed impact at scale.’
The charity typically backs a team of about 50 athletes taking part in the Invictus Games but says it has also ‘supported close to 30,000 veterans and family members through sporting programs delivered across the country’.
Invictus Games athlete Vanessa Broghill, who won long jump gold for Australia at the 2020 event, said of the latest setback: ‘It can be life-threatening if I’m going to be brutally honest. We lose six veterans a month to suicide and a lot of the time that can be taken back to the fact that they feel like they have no support. There are so many people out there that rely on organisations like Invictus Australia to help them through all the things that they’re going through, whether it be PTSD, anxiety, depression.’
Apparently, this latest Australian budget also cut funding to the Salvation Army, Soldier On and many mental health groups which work with veterans with PTSD. The moves are anti-veteran across the board. Still, there’s a reason why Invictus is front-and-center in so much of the coverage, just as there’s a reason why there’s so much negative energy being directed at the Birmingham games. The throughline is sabotage, the throughline is “dismantle one of Prince Harry’s biggest legacies by any means necessary.” Do I think that’s solely what this Australian mess is about? No, but it’s unquestionably a factor. Specifically, the Sussexes’ wildly successful Oz trip had a lot of people all the way f–ked up.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- The Duke of Sussex with memorial representatives and Indigenous veterans, including Lieutenant Colonel Joseph West (left) at the Australian War Memorial site in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex with memorial representatives and Indigenous veterans, including Lieutenant Colonel Joseph West (left) Where: Canberra, Australia When: 15 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex with memorial representatives and Indigenous veterans, including Lieutenant Colonel Joseph West (left) at the Australian War Memorial site in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex with memorial representatives and Indigenous veterans, including Lieutenant Colonel Joseph West (left) Where: Canberra, Australia When: 15 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex observing wreath laying during the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 14 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex by the Pool of Reflection after the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 14 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex views the Wall of Remembrance at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 14 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex lays a wreath during the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 14 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex standing with all female honour guard after the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 14 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex speaking during the Invictus Australia Reception at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 14 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex take part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Veteran Joel Vanderzwan presents the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with flip-flops with the inscriptions ‘G’ day Hazza’ and ‘G’ day Megs’ as they take part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex views the Captain Reg Saunders wall at the Australian War Memorial in Campbell, Canberra, on day two of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Canberra, Australia When: 15 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet veteran Joel Vanderzwan (right) with wife Alexandra, daughter Charlotte and twin sons Harrison and William, before taking part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I’ve had overwhelmingly positive and life-affirming experiences with people from Oz, but, really, what kind of country pulls funding from its own veterans? Funding that allows them to join a global rehabilitation programme that brings veterans together from all over the world? What makes you say, no, mate, I’m going to be the stingy standout????
How devastating for the veterans who benifit not only from the Invictus Games but also the other charities mentioned
Under EVERY Republican POTUS & Republican House majority…the 🇺🇸 Veterans budget has ALWAYS been decimated all 58 years of my life which is why the VA system is WOEFULLY antiquated & deplorable…Right wingers LOVE starting wars & screwing vets…this is a GLOBAL stance 🤬
70% of veterans voted for the orange menace = getting what they chose. FAFO
We don’t (technically) have a right wing government in Australia. Oestensibly the left party is in power, but they are more like slightly left of centre (compared to our right, which is chasing Trump off a cliff and being decimated over and over again electorally).
I am a lawyer in Australia, the most newsworthy budget announcements are centred around stopping wealthy Australians from enploiting tax loopholes (which I wholeheartedly support, eat the rich, even though I work in tax, trusts and structuring law). I will have to look into the policy reasons for the cuts to military and post-military spending.
I wil say though, maybe google Ben Roberts-Smith if you want a bit of an overview about how Australians are feeling about the military here at the moment… Definitely not a popular place to put money in any capacity.
What an appalling way to thank their veterans for their service.
This looks sus for a number of reasons, not all of which have to do with Harry and sabotage (although I agree that KP is surely pulling out all the stops to sabotage the next Games in Birmingham because of William’s animus against Harry):
1) Why was such a small amount singled out for cancellation? Even with other veteran supporting charities, this is hardly a sneeze in what I assume is a very much larger Australian federal budget?
2) Why weren’t the charities aware that this was coming, or even a possibility? (clear failure for whomever is in charge of keeping tabs on government actions, eg their lobbying or PR staff)
3) What are the current politics in Australia, I don’t even know – and why would something as apolitical as supporting veterans be a target?
Something in the milk ain’t clean…
I’m surprised to learn that Invictus received Federal funding at all. I don’t know how things work in Australia but in the US a charity has to raise most of it’s money through donations. Veteran’s organizations are eligible for govt support because they are/were part of the military’s operating budget. Hopefully, Archwell can help with fundraising.
Lady Esher
The fact that the organizations were surprised does NOT indicate poor monitoring, but rather sabotage by the government, which acted in accordance with the wishes of the Royals, not for the good of its soldiers. All the organizations deprived of funds admitted to being shocked, as the funds were supposed to be secured, and this was evident even during H&M’s visit. The withdrawal was a surprise.
If this was at the instigation of the royals – if they can have Australia alter its proposed budget within weeks of a visit from h&M – then hopefully all that becomes public knowledge even if it requires the equivalent of a FOIA request. Multiple people in the government would know if that was what happened and it will come out.
Same way its clear now that William (or at least the Firm) was behind Sentebale.
We don’t know ofc, it’s just speculation but standard operating practice is
1) Your organization has funding from a government budget. Apparently Inviticus Australia did (as well as other similar veterans’ charities)
2) Therefore you assign someone, either from your organization or from a trade association grouping all similar organizations to basically sit on all of their contacts/follow every meeting/every slip of paper/every behind the scenes meeting/every hallway encounter for the time that your organization’s budget may be affected. All of that should be done regardless of anything else going on. Being surprised suggests something went wrong
3) There were weeks between Harry and Meghan’s Australia visit and this budget bill being passed if I understand correctly? Therefore, plenty of time to do 2) again that’s SOP
Again, for such a small amount it’s surprising that it was targeted along with other veteran’s charities for removal from a federal budget and that’s why it seems unusual to me. But if the organization affected by a government budget, then monitoring should have flagged it and followed it every step of the way
@Becks1
I think William was behind Sentebale, and Invictus, actually, but Karol might have been particularly supportive here, jealous because his visit to Australia wasn’t so successful
and had to visit party venues to take photos with the crowd.. The absolute success of H&M’s visit to Australia, despite the intense attack and sabotage, must have been a shock for Karol and William, so they struck from a different angle. With Sentebale, you can trace how Chandauka established ties with the palace/William. It was known that Chandauka had once volunteered at Sentebale, so she could have gotten in more easily. She hung around Earthshot, then the palace gave her some kind of distinction, and she must have been given a task to get into Sentebale, because when they not wanted to hire her, she threatened to sue and accuse her of racism and misogyny. They probably took her for peace of mind. Then she received support from William and Chandauk se appointing
his advisor to the board. The fact that the body overseeing the foundation didn’t fire Chandauk for misappropriating funds and dismantling the program for which the foundation was created also indicates pressure from above. What a mess.
I’m Australian. Look up Ben Roberts-Smith. There is a tiny trump-supporting minority who think he is getting the raw end of the deal but the majority of Australians are sickened, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that feeling translates to disgust of the military in all capacities. I didn’t focus on the budget re: this type of spending (I am a tax, trusts and structuring lawyer and the changes to trust tax and CGT are amaxing from an ‘eat the rich’ perspective – I am personally deligted).
i think the coverage around this is designed to make harry and invictus look bad, but it seems like this was just a way to hurt Australian veterans across the board – if this was just about Harry, they wouldn’t have gutted funding to the other organizations as well (in fact they would have increased it).
Absolutely heinous on the part of the Australian government.
The other organizations that have also had their funding taken away are collaborating with Invictus. IG isn’t just about the Olympics. It’s a vast, extensive system of aid, rehabilitation, and medical support—hospitals, prosthetics—support for veterans’ families, housing developments for families during rehabilitation, and so on. By taking money from these additional organizations, they’re denying them the opportunity to participate in programs. Your initial impression—an attack, revenge, sabotage—is absolutely correct.
Yes I’m familiar with what Invictus is and does.
I wonder were there any veteran orgs that did not lose funding?
So I asked this yesterday, before having a knee-jerk reaction that it was only about their Australia trip. And it sounds like they pulled funding from lots of veterans organizations, which from the perspective of the government is a really bad look.
I do understand that the world economy is a mess and that people will vocally support organizations, but also complain when their taxes go up. Not any different than the US.
That being said, after such a successful tour where someone highlights the importance of these type of programs mentioned, immediately cutting them from the budget, even if not just retaliatory towards them specifically looks really cruel. I’m not Australian, but I can imagine that this will have some loud blowback.
As for Invictus itself, if the games disbanded ( which is always been Harry’s stated goal anyway), the sheer impact, importance, and legacy would not go away. They’re trying to put the horse back in the barn at this point. An organization that’s in 30 countries, and has had thousands of participants over the past 12 years is not just going to be memory holed.
If that’s their master plan, that people will just forget about Harry if Invictus and Sentabale doesn’t exist, it’s silly. People still reference Diana about AIDS and landmines 30 and 40 years later.
You’re right, it’s downright cruel.
I’m now wondering whether British instigators have been threatening the governments of Commonwealth countries which have have expressed support for Invictus, to force/persuade them to NOT participate or support the games in any way. That way, they can claim that IG is a failing entity. Because they would have noted that the Invictus Games have been liaising with governments (especially Defence Ministries) around the world to secure funding for local IG events, and these are becoming very popular in those countries.
And are they going to block visas for participants from certain countries in the runup to the Birmingham games?
To be honest, i thought when everyone pulled out of Afghanistan there would come a time when there would be no need for Invictus because there would be no more wars, i know very naive thinking on my part. No one has elvatuated how long the current batch of soldiers and Veterans out side of Ukraine and US would need support like invictus. but it has only been 4+ years since they pulled out so i would have given it another 10+ years. so i dont know what OZ are thinking
This story is really about the Australian government defunding veteran charities but Harry is so irrelevant that the press has to make it about him not veterans’ care.
Trump’s Iran war is messing up world economies, but cutting veterans programs is despicable.
So the message is: fight for your country, but screw you when you return and need support as a result of fighting for your country??? Wow. It’s almost as though they pulled funding from ALL veteran support groups which might have banded together to support Invictus Australia.
On another note: is this the would-be saboteurs’ new strategy: to ruin Invictus by ensuring that fewer countries have the means through which to take part? Are people working over the governments of countries which have participated in the past, to diminish support for the Games worldwide? Because at this point, I feel that there is NO level to which they cannot sink.
On an optimistic note: the funding was less than AUS $5 million. Surely some enterprising groups could step forward and announce a package of support/sponsorship for these charities?
The economy of many countries is in chaos with the US pig presiding the USA. So no surprise. Like many shortsighted govt, they always cut financing the weakest of their citizens. So again, no surprise here. It has nothing to do with Harry and everything to do with them knowing the Australians will do nothing or protest very little to defend their veterans happy been spared from these cuts.
H&M were just in Australia. Harry was holding meetings with Invictus Australia. Everything must have been okay, because their representative said they were completely surprised by the government’s decision, as it was known the funding had been secured. Harry was equally shocked. We all know that someone was pressuring the Australian government—read: the royal family, read: William, in this case exceptionally supported by Charles.
This is so disgusting it makes me want to vomit.
Of course, the IG attackers, led by the furious William, don’t care about veterans, just as they don’t care about HIV-infected children. And that’s a topic for a long article and a reason for social ostracism. These drooling individuals, like Eden and the rest, excited by hearing their own voices, won’t even mention the consequences of the hostile takeover of Sentebale, in which William participated,
Likewise, veterans. They don’t exist for them. There, only William’s pathological envy exists, and the press, fueled by him, takes it online and spreads like this plague.
This is what the world’s media should be writing, talking about, and publicizing. Because what we have here are representatives of the royal family whose actions lead to the deaths of children and an intensified attempt to destroy an extensive rehabilitation program for soldiers, including British soldiers whom they themselves send to war.
See how that sounds?
Now compare this to the German government, which, after Invictus, issued a statement thanking Harry for what they had learned from the IG, prompting a complete rethinking of their approach to veterans and implementing key changes. They said they were unaware of certain problems and were delighted with the IG extensive program.
And here a king from another country and his deputy are persuading another country, where he theoretically has power, to ignore its veterans and stop taking care of them.
YUCK !
WTAF. What is going on in Australia. And in a Labour government?
I suspect Labour in Australia will go the way of Labour in the UK.
https://x.com/zandisussex/status/2054803686027571234?s=61
This will hurt Australia’d bid for IG in 2031.
Yeah I think that bid has just been torpedoed. Definitely not getting the games now.
Yeah that’s dead on arrival, and I imagine the people for Invictus Australia are pissed.
Veterans organizations should protest this. I contribute to an organization that provides free housing for veterans and also to the United States War Veterans.
They should protest outside footie matches, get the wider public involved.
Shame Cluck and Huevo and the Aussie govt publicly for crapping on veterans.
I can also see that the royals and the news organizations are punishing Harry and Meghan for being so successful by persecuting the veterans the Sussexes serve. Is that a warning to all veterans not to go to Invictus? Australia is part of the Commonwealth, and I don’t know which strings were pulled, but I can guess by whom: William the Terrible. Yes, he is trying to systematically destroy every charity Harry started and worked for for years. The Australian government needs to give back services to their veterans. It’s not their fault the couple is so popular and “overshadowed” the left-behind royals. To overshadow can be a death sentence in England (e.g. Diana). So William not only does not give money to or support charities, he’s actively trying to destroy successful charities in other countries because he’s jealous of his brother. My God.
The gray men do have long tentacles.
Is this some kind of sop to Charles and is the Australian government really in thrall to the BRF?
The Australian Labor Party is in government at present and our Prime Minister is a Republican. They are not “in thrall” to the British Royals. Far from it. I am very disappointed about this decision, but I think it is just the result of the bean counters trying to save as many pennies as possible, and underestimating the likely public response. At least I hope they have underestimated the response, and that there will be backlash… though there are some other issues here at present that may take precedence in the public mind. We will have to wait and see.
I wonder how the Australian government would feel if soldiers decided that they were no longer going to serve a country who didn’t care about what happened to them after they were done serving. Maybe the government should stop and think about that before making these cruel inhumane decisions. I really wish all people who would consider a life of service to Australia would simply not do it and those doing it would also quit . Let’s see how the government likes them apples
I noticed that they waited until all the ANZAC ceremonies were done this year before this announcement.
Isn’t it odd that the veteran organizations seem to be completely blind-sided by this budget news? Up to the announcement, they were planning to make a bid for the Games? Very interesting, to say the least. The last IG was held in Canada, and it was wildly successful, finished on budge, and left an endowment of several millions for veterans’ rehab programs. It too is a Commonwealth country.
Next Anzac Day, I hope there are protests in front of government offices.
What a timing to cut the funds..
This is a piece of history I learned of in the last few years: “President Herbert Hoover disrespected WW1 veterans by ordering the violent forces removal of the ‘Bonus Army’ in 1932, a group of 15,000 veterans protesting in Washington D.C. for early payment of bonuses. Hoover refused to meet them, labeled them communists, and sent the in the army, causing over 100 injuries and destroying their camps.”
“The army, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur and including Maj. George S. Patron, to clear the veterans’ campsite using tanks, cavalry and tear gas. The assault resulted in numerous injuries and the deaths of two veterans, William Hushka and Eric Carlson, who were shot by police during the forced removal.”
This was during the Great Depression when the veterans needed their bonuses to buy food. It was considered a disaster for Hoover. People were outraged. He lost the election to FDR in 1934.
Sorry, line 2: forced removal
So this episode of American history was not taught in any elementary, jr. high or high school I ever attended. So the disrespect to veterans is nothing new in this country and probably in many other countries. And taking away funding for veterans in Australia in 2026 is in a long line of the egregious history of governments attacking and disregarding veterans instead of helping them.
Can they do a go fund me? My word it is veterans! Men that fought proudly for their country! Some kind of private funding should be done!
It’s utter bollocks to suggest that the royal family had anything to do with any of this. Do you honestly think this modern royal family has that kind of pull, or that they’d bother messing with the relatively tiny Australian contingent? These programs gain and lose funding all the time.
Sport and charities in general in Australia receive a lot of multi-year funding from government. I’ve worked in the sector for 20 years at a pretty high level and it’s not uncommon at all for times of feast and famine. I’ve gained and lost jobs along with entire departments based on budgets. Michael Hartung, having worked for the Paralympics previously, would be very familiar with this. I was around last time they were gutted and he had to move on.
While it sucks that these organisations have lost some funding I want to be very clear that they are all incredibly tiny players in the scheme of things. Veterans in Australia are supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs and are paid and supported through that, not these guys. These guys would be a subsidiary that work with DVA at the most. While there needs to be more support for veterans, it’s not like America where these guys rely so much on charities for support and health care. My husband is a veteran and had only heard of Invictus because they employ a few of my former colleagues.
Building a coalition among wounded warriors and their families across international boundaries is political. You can bet those in the “military industrial complex” are watching Invictus closely. Prince Harry has spoken bravely about a future time when war is unnecessary and just recently he mentioned the P word—peace. Dangerous words in these times.