Election delays top witness in Ben Roberts-Smith trial

The change of government will delay the evidence of the highest ranking SAS soldier to testify in the defamation trial of Ben Roberts-Smith.

The change of government has thrown a spanner in the works of Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial as the most senior SAS soldier in the case prepares to take the stand.

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing Nine newspapers claiming they defamed him in articles that alleged he committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

The marathon trial was supposed to be in its final week of evidence but Labor’s victory in Canberra has changed that, the Federal Court heard on Tuesday.

Mr Roberts-Smith’s legal team were calling an SAS commander, known as Person 81, to testify about a mission in Afghanistan in 2009.

Nine claims Mr Roberts-Smith, during that mission, was involved in two war crime murders.

Labor’s election victory have thrown a spanner in the works for Ben Robert-Smith’s defamation trial. Picture NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

The Victoria Cross recipient denies every allegation against him.

Some SAS witnesses have placed Person 81, who was then a senior officer in the regiment, in the Taliban compound now at the centre of the case.

Person 81 was expected to be questioned about the raid but top secret ADF documents would need to be released to the legal teams from the Commonwealth government before he took the stand.

The defeat of the Coalition means Labor is yet to appoint a full time Attorney-General to sign off on the release of the documents.

The court, on Tuesday, heard an interim A-G may sign off on the documents but it was not clear if that was going to happen before next week.

It means Person 81 will now not be called until late next week, delaying the end of the gripping case until the start of June.