Updated ,first published
A senior Coalition frontbencher has defended her decision to allow a senior adviser to write a newspaper article urging Australians not to “walk away” from Ben Roberts-Smith, exposing tensions inside the opposition over how to respond to the Victoria Cross recipient’s looming war crimes trial.
The article by former West Australian editor Brett McCarthy, now a senior adviser to shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash, praised Roberts-Smith’s battlefield heroism and called on Australians to continue supporting the decorated soldier despite him facing charges of war crime murder.
Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, has fiercely denied the allegations.
The intervention has laid bare divisions within Coalition ranks, in which leaders have sought to maintain a disciplined position centred on the rule of law and the presumption of innocence while avoiding criticism of prosecutors or the criminal justice process.
Cash’s shadow cabinet colleague Andrew Hastie, a former SAS member, has been subjected to fierce online attacks for giving evidence against Roberts-Smith in a defamation case along with 20 other soldiers.
The issue has become a political faultline within conservative politics, stretching from the Liberals to One Nation, with some conservatives arguing Roberts-Smith deserves public support because of his military service, while others warn against commentary that could undermine confidence in the judicial process.
While staff members are not contractually prohibited from expressing views on social media or through traditional media, it is highly unconventional for a senior staff member to publish opinion pieces in metropolitan mastheads. This masthead confirmed the office of Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was not informed before its publication.
Cash has also led the Coalition’s response to the case through her role as shadow first legal officer and probed public officials about the investigation at Senate estimates last week.
In a statement, a spokesman for Cash said McCarthy, who oversees her media inquiries, wrote the article “in a personal capacity” and that it made clear the matter should be determined by the courts.
“Nothing in the article seeks to interfere with the administration of justice or influence the outcome of the proceedings,” the spokesman said. “Senator Cash has consistently supported the independence of Australia’s courts, the rule of law and the presumption of innocence.”
McCarthy, who edited the West Australian from 2009 until late 2018, argued Roberts-Smith’s Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry represented “documented, verified, irrefutable” acts of bravery that should not be overshadowed by the criminal proceedings.
“When allegations against him were raised, I took a strong stance as the editor of The West that he deserved to be supported,” he wrote. “So I have long-held views about these matters and the charges laid … do nothing to change those views.”
“I urge Australians not to step back from the support of a man the moment it becomes legally inconvenient.”
The piece did not disclose that McCarthy worked for Cash.
Taylor’s leadership team and shadow cabinet agreed to avoid being drawn into a politically charged debate that had engulfed former SAS soldiers, veterans’ groups and conservative political movements. But sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity as to not break shadow cabinet confidentiality, said several prominent Liberals and Nationals had raised fears that not defending Roberts-Smith publicly could “kill them” electorally in the face of fierce attacks from One Nation.
While Taylor and Cash have publicly stressed that the courts should be allowed to determine the allegations without political interference, other frontbenchers, including former soldier Phil Thompson and former deputy Michael McCormack, have moved to defend Roberts-Smith.
On Sky News last week, Cash questioned the priorities of the government for taking weeks to authorise the prosecution of the so-called ISIS brides while the attorney-general took only two days to sign off on the prosecution brief faced by Roberts-Smith.
“In the case of a decorated war hero who received our highest award, the Victoria Cross, who fought in Afghanistan to defend the freedoms that the ISIS brides turned their backs on,” she said. “Women who consciously turned their backs on everything that Ben Roberts-Smith fought for and defended.”
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, bankrolled by mining magnate and prominent Roberts-Smith supporter Gina Rinehart, has openly campaigned in support of the VC winner and targeted Hastie for giving evidence in Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation case.
Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby, has warned the party could run a strong candidate against Hastie in the West Australian seat of Canning, citing the party’s membership base in the electorate.
In 2023, a Federal Court defamation hearing against this masthead found, on the balance of probabilities, that Roberts-Smith was involved in four unlawful killings in Afghanistan. Roberts-Smith has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Hastie has said he may be called as a witness in the criminal trial and has repeatedly urged Australians to respect the justice system. He has said he would not be intimidated by One Nation’s attacks.
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said: “As is long-standing practice, it is not appropriate to comment on a matter before the courts.”
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Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.