Defence Minister Peter Dutton apologises to 13 SAS wrongly accused of war crimes

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has apologised to 13 SAS soldiers accused of war crimes in the Brereton Inquiry. Their dismissal notices have been quietly withdrawn.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has apologised to 13 SAS soldiers accused of war crimes in the Brereton Inquiry who have now had their dismissal notices quietly withdrawn because of a lack of evidence.

“Clearly if people have been wrongly accused and they have now been cleared of that then I do apologise for what they have been through, what their families have been through,” Mr Dutton told Ray Hadley on 2GB.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has apologised to 13 SAS soldiers who were accused of war crimes but have been told they have nothing to answer for due to a lack of evidence. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The 13 were told last week there was “insufficient information” to support allegations of war crimes raised in the Brereton Inquiry, and that the notices to show cause why they should not be dismissed were being withdrawn.

Mr Dutton said the impact of the allegations “reverberates across the Australian Defence Force community” and had impacted the partners and families of many who served.

Veteran suicides spiked in the month after the report was released and there are calls for the new Royal Commission into veteran suicide to widen its scope to include the conduct of the inquiry and its report.

Mr Dutton said he “has the back” of the rank-and-file military and wants the country to be “proud of the work” of the SAS and all ADF personnel in Afghanistan.

“The work they are doing there is quite remarkable and the work of the SAS over many decades has been absolutely remarkable,” Mr Dutton said.

Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell apologised to the nation for the conduct of the SAS following the release of the Brereton report. Picture Gary Ramage

In November, after the Brereton Report was released, ADF chief Angus Campbell made a public apology to the nation about the SAS soldiers’ alleged conduct and then-Defence Minister Linda Reynolds described their actions as “cold-blooded murder”.

Ms Reynolds backed out of appearing on Hadley’s show yesterday and wrote in instead, saying “I have never accused any individual” of war crimes.

Hadley demanded on air: “When will you apologise?

“These men had no opportunity to defend themselves, some of them were press-ganged into arriving and giving evidence at the Brereton Inquiry. They were given no help in relation to their legal standing and they were hung, drawn and quartered by the report without the opportunity of it being tested in either a civil court or a criminal court and for that, Linda Reynolds, you stand condemned,” he said.

In April Mr Dutton stepped in to stop the 3408 members of the Special Operations Task Group who served in Afghanistan being stripped of their unit citation. The removal of the award was a key recommendation in the Brereton report.

Retired Special Forces Officer Heston Russell said the Commander of the Defence force should stand down. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Former commando major Heston Russell said Mr Dutton’s apology to the 13 cleared members of the SAS and decision to keep the unit citation had left the ADF chief in an untenable position.

“The Commander of the Defence Force has been overruled twice by the Minister of Defence. He has lost his moral authority as our leader,” Mr Russell said.

“The minister has apologised but the person responsible for overseeing the Brereton Inquiry, who came out all guns blazing in November against his own people, has not.

“Not only does General Campbell need to apologise to all special forces personnel, he must now step aside because he has lost his moral authority to remain as leader,” he said.

The ADF did not respond to requests for comment.

Originally published as Defence Minister Peter Dutton apologises to 13 SAS wrongly accused of war crimes