Australia must acknowledge “wrongdoing” in Afghanistan while also respecting the rule of law following the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith, says shadow defence minister and former SAS captain Andrew Hastie.
Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most-decorated living soldier, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder allegedly committed during his deployment to Afghanistan.
During the arrest, described by the BBC as “one of the most significant moments in Australian military history”, Roberts-Smith was escorted off a plane onto the tarmac at Sydney Airport and taken into custody.
The Victoria Cross recipient – whose legal fees in a failed defamation trial against this masthead were bankrolled by billionaire Kerry Stokes – will face a bail hearing on April 17.
Roberts-Smith has always denied the allegations against him.
Hastie, who served multiple tours of Afghanistan, said on Thursday that he might be called to testify against his former colleague. In a statement posted to his website, Hastie noted that he was one of 21 SAS veterans subpoenaed as a witness in Roberts-Smith’s defamation action.
“I gave testimony under oath, as required by law,” he said. “Mr Roberts-Smith is now facing criminal charges in relation to this operational mission, so it is possible that I will be called as a witness to this trial.”
Speaking earlier on Thursday to 2GB radio, Hastie warned that political commentary must not be allowed to prejudice the upcoming proceedings.
“Ben Roberts-Smith is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” he said. “He’s entitled to a fair trial, and that’s why I’m very circumspect about making comment, because the last thing we want is for his trial to be prejudiced by political commentary.”
Hastie said that Tuesday was a “sad and sobering day” for many Australians, but that the rule of law must prevail to ensure the former soldier received a fair trial.
In Roberts-Smith’s defamation loss, the Federal Court found that, on the balance of probabilities, Roberts-Smith was a war criminal.
Hastie said it was “hard to avoid the reality” of wrongdoing within the elite regiment following the handing down of the Brereton report into war crimes in 2020. “[It] found wrongdoing was done,” he said. “There was some wrongdoing that was found to be credible … part of us moving forward as a country is acknowledging where we’ve done well and done right, and also acknowledging where we’ve gone wrong.”
The West Australian MP, often touted as a possible future leader of the Coalition, said that while “things never go right” at the “pointy end” of combat, the actions of a few did not define the whole.
“I want to say to [veterans] that we all had a mission to serve our country, and 99 per cent of us did our job with honour, and we did it in a war that was incredibly frustrating,” he said.
Reflecting on his own service, Hastie spoke of the brutal complexities of the Afghanistan conflict, and the devastating civilian toll.
“Until you’ve, like me, stood over the dead bodies of an eight-year-old and a six-year-old boy, which have just been torn up by a 30-millimetre cannon [fired] by a US Apache, I’m just not going to take a lecture from people about the reality of war,” he said.
Hastie said the SAS remained a critical national capability and defended the men and women serving in the regiment. He said it was crucial that politicians like him said as little as possible about the upcoming trial of the former soldier.
“[Roberts-Smith] will have his day in court, and one way or another, there will be an outcome,” Hastie said. “But if this process is prejudiced, we’re actually not doing Ben Roberts-Smith a service.”
Some politicians have opted for silence when asked about the case – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who cited the looming court case – while others, like Pauline Hanson and Tony Abbott, have forcefully condemned the charges.
Former prime minister John Howard said on Wednesday that “to some Australians, Roberts-Smith is the modern personification of the great Anzac tradition”.
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Clay Lucas is an investigative reporter at The Age who has covered urban affairs, state and federal politics, industrial relations, health and aged care. Email him at clucas@theage.com.au or claylucas@protonmail.com, or via Signal +61439828128.Connect via X, Facebook or email.