His wife, Beckie, who will soon give birth to the couple's second child, paid tribute to her husband. ''Jared was a very loving dad, a doting father, and nothing meant more to him than family. He was really the best husband and we shared the most amazing 11 years together.''

Their daughter Annabell, 3, had been her husband's little princess, she said.

Lance-Corporal MacKinney, 28, nicknamed Crash, played representative hockey and followed the Bulldogs in the NRL.

The Defence Minister, John Faulkner, admitted his death would intensify pressure on the government to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, where they have been deployed since 2001.

The Chief of Defence Force, Angus Houston, said Lance-Corporal MacKinney, from the 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, had been on his second tour of the country.

He died five days after two soldiers from the same taskforce - Private Grant Kirby and Private Tomas Dale - were killed by a roadside bomb and four days after two soldiers were hurt by a bomb.

Senator Faulkner said: ''I'm sure this loss, coming so soon after the recent losses, will cause some to question why we are in Afghanistan .. Our work there is absolutely vital. This soldier and his fellow soldiers have been doing the difficult but essential work of training and mentoring the Afghan National Army.''

Air Chief Marshal Houston said Lance-Corporal MacKinney ''has brought great honour to our nation, the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Army, and, most especially, his family.''

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said ''there has been particular intensity and loss in recent months'' but denied the increase in casualties was the result of gaps left by Dutch forces, who pulled out of Oruzgan last month.

The Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, echoed that assessment.

Lance-Corporal MacKinney was killed in an area that had been controlled by the Dutch - Deh Rawood, west of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt.