With an active military service in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve that commenced in 1969, rising to the rank of Commodore, Cole served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Australian Defence Force between 1992 and 1998 [REF].
He was commissioner of the 2000-2003 Cole Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry[REF] and the 2005-2006 Cole Inquiry investigating allegations that AWB Limited paid illegal bribes to the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in order to secure wheat sales to Iraq [REF].