LEADERS can be sacked, made redundant or become a casualty of war but they cannot opt out, according to General Peter Cosgrove.The Former Defence Force chief was in Ballarat on Tuesday speaking at the Australian Catholic University on “Observations and reflections on an engaged life: The human spirit in the face of adversity”. This was his first visit to the Ballarat campus since becoming a Chancellor of the university in November 2010.“Leadership starts with accountability,” General Cosgrove said. “If you take on the leadership role you don’t clock on or off or shed the leader’s role.“You are the leader while there are people to be led.”General Peter Cosgrove served in the Australian Army from 1965 and was Chief of the Australian Defence Force from July 2002 to July 2005. In 2001, he was named Australian of the Year. “Because of my background in the military and then my time in corporate life I’ve got what I think are some unique observations on leadership in some quite diverse part of the community,” he said.However, he refrained from commenting about what some people might call a crisis in the current political leadership in Australia.“I have never been a politician,” General Cosgrove said. “I have no more wisdom than any other voter in Australia. “And one of the things I learnt as a soldier is that the right time to express any political wisdom is on polling day.”Australian Catholic University Ballarat campus dean Associate Professor Joe Fleming said the talk was well attended by staff, students and the general public.“We had about 180 people at the event, with about 40 of them from the university’s staff and students,” Associate Professor Fleming said.