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'Place of truth': War Memorial boss pledges to reflect war crimes inquiry
The Australian War Memorial will acknowledge the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australia's special forces, with its curators and historians to be given free rein to address the dark chapter truthfully in its exhibitions.
Memorial director Matt Anderson said the institution is "a place of truth" and while the overwhelming majority of the 30,000 Australians who have served in the Afghanistan war did so honourably and courageously, visitors to the memorial would expect the darker parts of Australia's history to be acknowledged.
Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson says the institution is a place of truth and will reflect the reality of allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The four-year investigation, led by judge Paul Brereton for the Inspector-General of the ADF, alleged Australian special forces soldiers committed 39 murders in Afghanistan, and 19 current or former soldiers will face possible prosecution or the stripping of their medals. The Special Air Service Regiment's second squadron will be disbanded and the report recommended a meritorious unit citation to the Special Operations Task Group be revoked.
Former Defence Force chief Chris Barrie called last week for exhibits relating to the SAS in Afghanistan to be taken off display until the AWM could reflect the findings. Australian Defence Association executive director Neil James said the AWM should put something up "fairly soon" acknowledging the report.
Mr Anderson, who spent 2015 and 2016 in Afghanistan as a diplomat, said he had been "thinking heavily and deeply" about how to respond to the Brereton report since its release last Thursday.
"People will come to the memorial and ... because of the significance of the report and arguably because of the media attention that's been given to the report, they would expect to see it acknowledged and we will seek to do that," he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
"What we want to do is acknowledge the Brereton report as a fact: there was an inquiry, the inquiry was held, it's made recommendations, it's found credible information about the 19 soldiers. But at the moment … it isn't there yet because I don't even have a physical copy of the Brereton report."
He wants any telling of that story to be set in the context of the 30,000 Australians who served in Afghanistan.
"Sadly, for some people the only thing they'll know about Afghanistan is the allegations that came from the Brereton report," Mr Anderson said. "The overwhelming majority who served, served courageously and competently and effectively and I'll be telling that story. If the eventual findings, the legal processes find that some didn't then that will be acknowledged too because we tell the truth."
The Afghanistan exhibition at the Australian War Memorial includes a wall signed by thousands of veterans who served in Tarin Kowt.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
His initial thoughts include making the report available through the AWM's archives and approaching Justice Brereton to give an oral history about how he conducted the inquiry. He also intends to make sure there is space for "appropriate treatment" in the new galleries once they are complete. The controversial $500 million expansion of the memorial, largely to give more exhibition space to conflicts in the Middle East and peacekeeping missions, is anticipated to be finished by June 2028.
Mr Anderson defended the War Memorial council's chair Kerry Stokes, who has vowed to help members of the SAS who were accused of war crimes.
"I think people are losing sight of the fact that Kerry Stokes has had the best interests of veterans at heart for decades, long before he served on the council of the Australian War Memorial," Mr Anderson said.
Council member Major General Greg Melick, the RSL national president, told Radio National the criticism of Mr Stokes was "ridiculous" and "individuals can have a right to stand by veterans". He thought it was too early to start making the Brereton findings part of displays but said the Memorial did need to deal with them.
While the council is responsible for the AWM's activities and policies, Mr Anderson insisted that in practice it did not influence the experts who put together exhibitions.
"The council has every trust in our curatorial and historical teams and gives them free range to arrive at the best treatment of the subjects," he said.
Meanwhile, Liberal MP and former SAS officer Andrew Hastie has called for more parliamentary oversight of Defence.
"The current system is broken and needs fixing," he told the ABC.
"You can't treat it like any other government policy … we sent guys back over and over and over again. We shouldn't be surprised that the dark energy of war took its toll on people."
The decision to strip the meritorious unit citation from the whole Special Operations Task Group was "very, very tough" but Mr Hastie said ultimately he had to respect the decision.
However, Labor's Luke Gosling, who represents the Darwin seat of Solomon, said it was wrong and cruel to strip the award from 3000 soldiers when more than 99 per cent had acted properly.
"It's deeply hypocritical to call for people not to tar all members of the ADF with the same brush, while suggesting the thousands of people who served with honour and integrity could lose their award," he wrote in an opinion piece.
If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.