'Discredited': Former War Memorial historian calls for Kerry Stokes to stand down

The former chief historian of the Australian War Memorial has called for its chairman, Kerry Stokes, to stand down over his public and private support for soldiers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan.

Peter Stanley, who worked at the War Memorial for 27 years including as principal historian, said Mr Stokes was "discredited by his uncritical association with the accused".

The chairman of the board of the Australian War Memorial, Kerry Stokes.Credit: Philip Gostelow

A four-year inquiry, led by Justice Paul Brereton for the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, found Australian special forces soldiers allegedly committed 39 murders in Afghanistan, and 19 serving or former soldiers will face possible prosecution and the stripping of their medals.

Professor Stanley, a member of the Heritage Guardians group which is opposing the proposed $498 million expansion of the War Memorial, said Mr Stokes, who is also the Seven West Media chairman, should stand down from his role as chair of the council.

"That would be an appropriate move for the War Memorial to distance itself from the allegations," he said. "Stokes is discredited by his uncritical association with the accused. For a public figure in a position like that, they've got to be at arm's length. Kerry Stokes has clearly showed what side he's on."

Mr Stokes last week promised to use a fund he created to help cover the legal costs of SAS members accused of war crimes.

Professor Stanley said the War Memorial's expansion should also be halted because of the actions of Mr Stokes and former director Brendan Nelson in publicly supporting soldiers accused of war crimes.

He said he did not believe the War Memorial should rush to put up exhibits acknowledging the Brereton report because the allegations had not yet moved to prosecutions or convictions.

He said any premature move to acknowledge the report would be repeating the mistakes the War Memorial made in putting up an exhibit about the Afghanistan War when the conflict was still ongoing.

"I don't think the War Memorial needs to do anything for the time being," he said. "I very much applaud its director, Matt Anderson, who has indicated the War Memorial should be a place of truth. Because of Brendan Nelson's actions and because of Kerry Stokes' actions, the War Memorial's expansions should be halted, put on ice."

Asked whether Mr Stokes would be standing down, a spokesman said: "No, mate."

Australian National University history professor Frank Bongiorno said he believed the War Memorial needed to acknowledge the Brereton report in its public displays as a matter of urgency.

"It's drawn controversy from the actions of its previous director and current chair, and I think both were ill-advised," he said.

"It needs to acknowledge the current processes with appropriately chosen words that register that these aren't matters that have gone through a court of law, but they have been investigated."

Professor Bongiorno said the curators and historians should be given independence in deciding how to acknowledge the inquiry's findings. "That's appropriate – basically, the manager and board set the parameters and the professionals do the actual work," he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday promised the War Memorial council would have "oversight" of any move to acknowledge alleged war crimes by Australia's special forces, despite its director, Matt Anderson saying curators and historians would be given free rein.

Mr Morrison said the War Memorial's council had "a lot of people with a lot of experience" who would "exercise appropriate judgment" on future plans to recognise the Brereton inquiry's findings.

He suggested ADF Chief Angus Campbell's decision to remove the meritorious unit citation for all Special Operations Task Groups which served in Afghanistan was not yet finalised.

"There is an oversight panel over the top of how these recommendations will be followed through on and so, again, I'm just going to take this step by step," he said.

When releasing the report last week, General Campbell said he would "write to the Governor-General requesting he revoke the Meritorious Unit Citation for Special Operations Task Groups who served in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013".

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