War crimes ‘will be prosecuted’ says Andrew Hastie

Andrew Hastie is confident special forces war criminals will be brought to justice despite the collapse of an investigation into Ben Roberts-Smith.

SAS Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith photographed immediately after the action that won him the Victoria Cross in Afghanistan. Picture: Supplied

Opposition defence spokesman and former SAS captain Andrew Hastie says he is confident special forces war criminals will be brought to justice despite the collapse of a five-year investigation into allegations of murder against Australia’s most decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith.

The Australian Federal Police defended its conduct on Wednesday after it was forced to junk its investigation into Mr Roberts-Smith’s alleged involvement in the execution of three Afghan prisoners, amid concerns over tainted evidence.

The AFP and detectives from the nation’s war crimes agency, the Office of the Special Investigator, have now started a fresh probe into the alleged murders, which sources warn could take years.

Mr Hastie said he was not privy to the reasons behind the decision, but declared: “The Office of the Special Investigator is active”.

He told the ABC: “They are doing their jobs and I am confident that they will still continue on with the work that needs to be done to bring a finality to this whole, sad, sorry affair.”

The AFP said it had relied on expert legal advice in using information from the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force inquiry, conducted by Justice Paul Brereton, which had coercive powers to compel testimony by witnesses.

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

It said it “compartmentalised” evidence provided by the IGADF, because of the legal risks involved, and presented its evidence on two matters to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in 2020 and 2022.

But it said the CDPP decided in March this year it could not prosecute two alleged war crimes offences based on the evidence provided.

“The AFP has acted in good faith and professionally at all times during some of the most complex investigations the AFP has ever undertaken,” an AFP spokeswoman said. “Now the IGADF Inquiry is finalised, the joint OSI/AFP investigation – Operation Emerald – is the appropriate framework to investigate these matters.”

The spokeswoman said the Operation Emerald investigation would be undertaken “as expeditiously as possible”.

Mr Hastie praised the soldiers who gave evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith in his failed defamation case against Nine newspapers, saying they had demonstrated the SAS regiment had “a moral pulse”.

The West Australian Liberal MP, who also gave evidence against Mr Roberts-Smith during the defamation case, said he felt a sense of relief that “the cold hard truth” of the allegations against the Victoria Cross recipient had been “validated by a Federal Court justice”. He said the possible disbandment of the regiment had been a live issue several years ago, but those who had stood up to call out the SAS’s “toxic culture” had ultimately rescued the regiment.

Mr Hastie also warned against politicisation of the Brereton Report, saying it was “not about left or right”, or about one media organisation versus another.

“In the end, it is a simple question of morality,” he said.

“It’s right versus wrong. It’s the rule of law versus the rule of the jungle. And, to put it very simply, Australian soldiers do not execute non-combatants who have been taken as prisoners.”