By Matthew Knott
Defence Minister Richard Marles has stripped distinguished service medals from commanding officers who held senior roles during the war in Afghanistan, taking up the key remaining recommendation of the Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian troops.
Marles’ long-awaited move, which comes just days after the release of the final royal commission report into veteran suicide, has infuriated veterans groups who say the officers involved are being unfairly punished for others’ alleged wrongdoing.
The decision does not affect those accused of war crimes themselves, such as Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.
A Federal Court judge, applying the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, found that Roberts-Smith was complicit in the murder of four unarmed civilians in Afghanistan during a defamation case against this masthead last year. He has not been charged with any crime and maintains his innocence.
A government source said the Brereton report did not deal with bravery medals such as the Victoria Cross, and that Marles’ response was limited to responding to that inquiry.
The honours issue has been sitting on Marles’ desk since May 2023, when then-Defence Force chief Angus Campbell wrote to a small group of Afghan veterans to inform them he had recommended the minister terminate their awards for distinguished and conspicuous service on warlike operations.
Richard Marles has stripped medals from senior commanding officers in the Afghan war.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The government has declined to identify the names of the officers who have been stripped of their medals, and has not revealed exactly how many people received letters from Marles on Wednesday informing them of his decision.
Government sources who were not authorised to speak publicly said that up to nine people had been stripped of their awards and fewer than 15 people received letters from Marles.
This suggests Marles rejected Campbell’s recommendation for a handful of officers, allowing them to retain their honours.
Most are understood to have left the Defence Force.
In a speech to parliament on Thursday, Marles said the Brereton inquiry had examined “arguably the most serious allegations of Australian war crimes in our history”.
“This will always be a matter of national shame,” he said.
Marles said his decision to remove honours from some commanders “was consistent with the findings and recommendations of the Brereton report”.
“In accordance with obligations owed to individuals involved, including under the Privacy Act, I am prohibited from disclosing the details and outcomes,” he said.
Marles paid tribute to the “sacred service” of the vast majority of Australian Defence personnel and commended those who told the truth about what happened in Afghanistan.
“These people whose names are not heralded, have changed our country for the better. Today, we honour them.”
The decision does not have any promotion consequences for those who have been stripped of their honours, and it is up to individuals to decide whether they want to surrender their physical medals.
The Distinguished Service Cross was introduced in 1991 and is awarded for distinguished command and leadership in warlike operations.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said it was important for Australia to “learn from this tragic and bitter chapter in our military history”, but did not directly address the stripping of medals from the former commanders.
“The Brereton report was painful as it unearthed painful truths about some of our conduct in the Afghan war,” Hastie, a former SAS soldier who served in Afghanistan, said in a reply to Marles’ speech. “Reputations both personal and institutional have been damaged.”
He choked with emotion in his response, saying “our soldiers must tell the truth, and those in leadership must seek it out. If both our soldiers and our leaders had done so, we might not be in this place today. But here we are, and it has been a tough reckoning.”
Marles’ decision does not affect Campbell, who offered to return a Distinguished Service Cross awarded to him for his stewardship as commander of Middle East Operations but was knocked back by the Morrison government.
Martin Hamilton-Smith, the head of the Australian SAS Association, reacted angrily, saying: “This appears to be the first time in the history of ANZAC that an Australian government has so betrayed the courage and sacrifice of the men they sent to fight and die in our country’s name.”
Accusing Marles of “spitting at the feet of our Australian veterans”, he said, “The message this sends is disgraceful.”
RSL Australia president Greg Melick said the organisation firmly believed that no medals should be taken away until all investigations and potential trials had been completed.
“The RSL is aware of the significant strain this matter has placed on veterans, even those not involved in alleged incidents,” he said.
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie, who served in the army for more than a decade, accused the government of “throwing our Diggers under the bus”, telling Sky News that more senior Defence figures should be held accountable for any alleged wrongdoing in Afghanistan.
Lambie questioned why Marles had made the decision in the same week as tabling the final report from the royal commission into veteran suicide, saying she was concerned it could exacerbate veterans’ mental health issues.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told 2GB that Marles had “abrogated responsibility here by letting this cloud hang for so long”, but did not say whether he supported the decision.
He said he was glad Marles had stuck by his 2021 decision not to strip 3000 members of the Special Operations Task Group of their meritorious unit citations.
In his 2020 report, former NSW Supreme Court judge Paul Brereton said that “it is difficult to see how any commander at the Special Operations Task Group, Squadron or Troop level, under whose command (or ‘on whose watch’) any substantiated incident referred to in this Report occurred, could in good conscience retain a distinguished service award in respect of that command”.
The Distinguished Service Medal, introduced in 1991, is awarded for exceptional leadership in warlike operations. It entitles recipients to a nickel-silver medal with their details engraved upon it.
The government moved on another key recommendation of the Brereton inquiry in July by establishing a compensation scheme for the relatives of victims of alleged war crimes by Australian troops.
The Office of the Special Investigator, responsible for pursuing possible criminal charges arising from the Brereton report, is continuing its work.
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