The Ben Roberts-Smith saga is a test for Australia

April 14, 2026 — 11:30am

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Immediately following WWII, French author and philosopher Albert Camus – a perceptive witness to inhumanity – wrote: “In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.”

The Ben Roberts-Smith saga is a test for Australia. Which side do we choose?

As one of the reporters to expose the war hero as a war criminal, you know where I stand.

I have never seen reason to doubt that pushing a defenceless Afghan to his knees and shooting him dead is not only morally wrong, but unlawful. It was also militarily and strategically counterproductive, turning a wary population further against Australian soldiers. And the psychological impact on junior soldiers bullied into pulling the trigger by a looming Victoria Cross recipient proved devastating.

These offences – proved to a civil rather than criminal standard, after lengthy court hearings and prolific media coverage – have not swayed masses of Roberts-Smith supporters, including high-profile advocates such as One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and former prime minister Tony........

© The Age