Updated ,first published
When it comes to Ben Roberts-Smith, one billionaire’s voice was strongly heard. The other’s silence speaks volumes.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart immediately launched into a forceful attack of the highly-decorated soldier’s prosecution. In contrast, the veteran’s previous supporter, media mogul Kerry Stokes, remained silent.
It was just one example of how the case has drawn dividing lines just a day after Australian Federal Police charged Roberts-Smith – the former soldier and recipient of the Australian military’s highest honour, the Victoria Cross – with five counts of war crime – murder.
Politicians too have split into camps. Some, including the prime minister, are saying nothing at all, citing the court case. Others, like Pauline Hanson and Tony Abbott, are forcefully condemning the charges.
And so it goes through the nation. On social media you can buy letterbox magnets to show your support for Roberts-Smith at the same time as there are calls for the Australian War Memorial to rethink its exhibit valorising the soldier.
Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, provided an emphatic “yes” to this masthead when asked whether she still supported Roberts-Smith.
“I don’t understand how it can be justified to spend more than $300 million to try for years to bring SAS veterans, who have served our country, towards criminal proceedings, and most recently the arrest of Ben,” Rinehart said in a statement.
Rinehart said she hoped Australians extended “compassion and the Aussie spirit” to Roberts-Smith and remembered the duty he undertook for Australia.
“Have we lost sight of the fact that in our inadequately defended country, facing uncertain times, the morale of our Defence Force has already been brought to its lowest ebb since inception, our defence personnel numbers are inadequate, and recruitment is suffering?”
On Tuesday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and former prime minister Tony Abbott used similar terms to declare they still supported Roberts-Smith.
“Ben, his immediate and broader defence family need the Australian people’s support right now and I will not abandon him like so many other politicians,” Hanson posted on social media.
Abbott said it was wrong to judge the actions of “men in mortal combat by the standards of ordinary civilian life”.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie said the prosecution was a “tragedy”, while Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, while stopping short of criticising the action, called for taxpayers to foot the legal bills for Roberts-Smith or any other soldier likewise accused.
Others were more reticent. A spokesman for the billionaire Stokes, who exited his role as chairman of Seven West Media in February, said the businessman would not comment while the matter was before the courts. Billionaire Clive Palmer declined to speak for the same reason.
Stokes had previously bankrolled Roberts-Smith’s defamation case against The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, but not his appeals, and had been highly critical of the mastheads’ reporting of the soldier’s alleged war crimes.
Brendan Nelson, the former opposition leader, defence minister and War Memorial chairman, who had been a character witness for Roberts-Smith, has made no public statement and did not return calls.
Former prime minister John Howard trod a delicate line, noting the arrest of the most decorated living Australian serviceman would “tug at the heartstrings of millions of Australians”.
“To some Australians, Roberts-Smith is the modern personification of the great Anzac tradition. That tradition is held dearer by our fellow Australians than any other in our proud history,” Howard said.
The former prime minister said it had been his great privilege to meet so many Australian servicemen and women who had upheld core values including the rule of law and “their welfare has remained in my prayers”.
“This is a difficult issue for many, as it tests to the limits not only our respect for Australian values, but the deep and special reverence we have for those who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.”
A key part of the Roberts-Smith camp in recent years, as he unsuccessfully sued this masthead for defamation over its reporting of his alleged war crimes, was his legal team.
That, too, has a different look, after it emerged that Roberts-Smith had hired new lawyers, with high-profile silk Arthur Moses, SC, not among them.
Perceived conflicts of interest due to current legal roles are likely to prevent Moses from representing the decorated former soldier in his criminal case, said legal sources who are unable to discuss the matter publicly.
Moses is an Assistant Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, working under Inspector-General James Gaynor, who is tasked with overseeing the quality and fairness of the military justice system.
A previous inspector-general was Paul Brereton, whose report found evidence of 39 murders of civilians and prisoners by Australian troops.
Another potential conflict of interest is that Moses also regularly appears for the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police in proceeds of crime matters. The barrister declined to comment.
Solicitor Jordan Portokalli, a senior associate at Hugo Law Group, represented the former soldier in court on Wednesday.
Lawyer Monica Allen, of BlackBay Lawyers, is still representing Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation appeals, where he has been ordered to pay this masthead’s legal costs.
Legal sources said Roberts-Smith’s defence team is headed by Karen Espiner, the Perth-based founder and partner of Hugo Law Group. Espiner is married to barrister Christian Porter, the former federal Liberal government attorney-general. She confirmed last night she was acting for the former soldier.
Few groups feel the importance of the case more than veterans, and there, too, opinions vary.
Soldier On, the veterans’ charity supported by Rinehart and others, said it respected the independence of Australia’s judicial system and would not comment specifically on the case.
“This is an individual legal matter. It does not reflect the service and sacrifice of the many thousands of Australians who served in Afghanistan with honour, courage and professionalism, often at significant personal cost,” the charity said.
“We recognise that the media coverage and the broader public discussion may be deeply confronting for many in the veteran community and their families. We are here to stand alongside you.”
The Special Air Service Association of Australia said natural justice must prevail and accountability must be comprehensive, given governments and senior military leadership made decisions about soldiers in Afghanistan “far above the level of individual patrols”.
“The human toll of this process is profound. Families have carried the weight of uncertainty, public scrutiny and personal distress for many years,” said the Australian SAS Association national chair, Bob Hunter.
“If criminal responsibility is pursued, then institutional, command and political accountability must also be brought fully to light. Justice that focuses exclusively on individuals at the tactical edge, while ignoring those who designed, directed and sustained the conflict, is incomplete and risks distorting the truth of what occurred.”
RSL Australia president Peter Tinley, who has previously said he was deeply concerned that the legal process had taken too long, called for the case to run its course without interference.
“Without doubt, the overwhelming majority of Australians who served in Afghanistan did so with honour, bravery and at significant personal cost,” he said.
“For those connected to the Special Forces, those involved in the proceedings, and those who may be called to testify, RSL Australia is here for you.”
Perhaps one of the less desirable endorsements of Roberts-Smith came from a prominent neo-Nazi accused of harassing female politicians and leaders.
Outside court, Joel Thomas Davis, 31, who is facing 10 counts of using a carriage service to menace or offend, including targeting Wentworth MP Allegra Spender, declined to talk to reporters about his case.
Instead, he questioned “what kind of a country prosecutes its war heroes”.
“Free Ben Roberts-Smith,” he shouted before walking off.
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Stephen Brook is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X or email.