There's much more to the story than Ben Roberts-Smith

Introduction

I had, of course, heard a lot about the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case, but the single event that prompted me to write this page was the piece on ABC TV's Media Watch that went to air on 2023/06/05.

It all goes well beyond Ben Roberts-Smith and the others involved in the court case. There are implications in this saga for:

• Freedom of the 'press';
• Investigative journalism;
• Secrecy versus open disclosure in Australia's courts;
• The right of journalists and media to keep their sources secret;
• Australia's military:
  • Roberts-Smith was a corporal; what were his commanding officers doing?
  • What does the saga say about ethical standards in the Australian military?
  • What impact will it have on the ANZAC legend?
  • Some of Ben Roberts-Smith's mates lied. Should their top priority be honesty or mateship?
  • Ben Roberts-Smith may sometime have to face murder or war crime charges - or will his commanding officers be the ones facing war crimes charges?
• Australia's involvement in the USA's wars;
• Australia's involvement in overseas actions in general;
• Australia's government and ethics;
• Australia's international image;
• Kerry Stokes, Chairman of the Seven network and at least one time boss of The West Australian newspaper.

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What are some of the implications from the Roberts-Smith saga?
What repercussions are we likely to see?
What changes need to be made in the systems involved?

Freedom of the Press

The newspapers (of the Nine group) that Roberts-Smith attempted to sue had to spend millions of dollars in order to defend themselves and their investigative reporters. Had they lost the case it would have created a precedent that would have made them and other newspapers reluctant to expose crimes like those of Roberts-Smith. It would have been a huge blow to investigative reporting in Australia.

Investigative reporting and reporters

Apart from the worry about the court case that went on for five years, at least two of the reporters involved, Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters, received abuse and even death threats from people in the defence forces and the general public.

The job of an investigative reporter is challenging enough at any time without having to go through abuse and threats. Ben Roberts-Smith was a false hero, the journalists who brought the truth to light are real heroes.

Secrecy versus open disclosure in Australia's courts

Some of the evidence was not allowed to be given in an open court, presumably because it involved military operations that somebody didn't want known to the public. This, of course, goes against the principal of making the processes of courts open and free for all to see that justice was being done. Perhaps it is necessary, but it is undesirable.

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Truth or mateship?

Ben Roberts-Smith called four fellow soldiers as witnesses. The judge said that none of them were reliable witnesses and their testimony involved lies.

Are Australia's soldiers encouraged to hold the truth to be above all, or mateship? Surely any reasonable standard of ethics should hold truth and honesty as a higher priority than mateship. I would argue, and have argued, that to do otherwise is a perversion.

Had there not been other soldiers present at the time who had the bravery and honesty to tell the truth Ben Roberts-Smith might have got away with his crimes and won his defamation case - under false pretences.

How far up in the armed forces does culpability go?

The chief of the armed forces, General Angus Campbell, has apologised for the treatment of women in the forces, he will now have to apologise for these war crimes.

Ben Roberts-Smith was a corporal, a non-commissioned officer. The commissioned officers over him must take some responsibility for his conduct and the conduct of the soldiers he served with. As of the time of writing, 2023/06/06, nothing seems to have been said about this in the public media.

The judge found that Ben Roberts-Smith was guilty of war crimes. If so some of the responsibility for those crimes should fall on his commanding officers. Either they knew what Smith was doing and turned a blind eye or they didn't know, but should have known, and therefore failed in their duty. This responsibility would go right up the chain of command - to the top. Will this case lead to war crime trials in the future, and who will face trial?

What does the Ben Roberts-Smith saga say about ethical standards in Australia's military?

War involves destruction and killing. Things that would not normally be considered ethically supportable. While this was not, strictly speaking a war (it was a 'peace keeping operation') it should have at least been subjected to the laws of war and the demands of decency. The outcome of the court case shows that it was not.

I repeat, what does the saga say about ethical standards in Australia's military?

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Australia's mindless following of the USA

Australia followed the USA into Vietnam and into the invasion of Iraq. Both had questionable justification, caused terrible death, destruction, and displacement of millions of people.

The USA has a long record of immoral meddling in the affairs of other nations. Why must Australia be so quick to follow the USA?

"Between 1945 and 2005 the United States has attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable regimes. In the process, the U.S. caused the end of life for several million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair." William Blum, third edition of Rogue State. See Real USA, on this site, for more of the crimes of this rogue state.

And Australia followed the USA's lead into Afghanistan, Prime Minister Howard committing our troops in October 2001. When the last Australian combat troops pulled out in December 2013 it seems that no lasting good had been achieved.

Australia's involvement in overseas actions

Australia's 'defence forces' have been involved in many overseas actions, the great majority of which could not honestly be called defensive actions.

Australian troops were involved in:

• The Crimean War;
• The Boer War (where some atrocities were carried out against Boer fighters and civilians);
• The First World War (was it necessary at all? The cost in the lives of our young men was enormous. Many women either lost husbands or didn't ever marry because of a lack of available young men - so many had been killed. Then there were those that came back maimed);
• The Second World War was justifiable and Australia's involvement against Japan could be truly called defensive;
• The Korean War (justified, but not really defensive);
• The Vietnam War (Futility of war, US involvement);
• Afghanistan;
• The invasion of Iraq (illegal, unjustifiable, achieved nothing good, enormously damaging and destructive, killed thousands, displaced millions).

We could argue about how much any of these actions were worth putting our young men's lives at risk and how justifiable they were. And what did they achieve?

What effect will it have on Australia's image internationally?

Australians have been proud of the conduct of their armed forces; I believe with considerable justification. While the outcome might justify us taking some pride in our legal system and the freedom of our press, it certainly is a black mark against the record of our military - how many more such acts were perpetrated in Afghanistan that have never come to light?

Will it cast a long shadow over future Anzac Day celebrations?

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Kerry Stokes: is he for or against the freedom of the press?

Kerry Stokes is Chairman of the Seven media organisation and had a leading role in The West Australian newspaper. Apparently he paid much of the costs of bringing Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation case to court. In this he tried to punish those newspapers and journalists who exposed Ben Roberts-Smith's wrong-doing. You would hope that a man in his position would be in favour of the freedom of the press, but apparently he is not.

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