When Justice Anthony Besanko knocked out Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation claims in straight sets last week, Australia’s media mostly celebrated the result as a win for investigative journalism and press freedom.
But in the days since, some conservative media have shuffled back towards the Victorian Medal recipient, hosing down the significance of the historic judgment and casting doubt on the reporting that led there.
Leading the charge was Peta Credlin, who was one of the first media figures to defend Roberts-Smith. In a Daily Telegraph opinion piece the day after the verdict, Credlin took issue with drawing conclusions from Besanko’s findings about Roberts-Smith’s behaviour.
“The judgment against him last week was a civil law matter, with a lower burden of proof (on the ‘balance of probabilities’) and not a war crimes trial operating at the criminal standard of proof (‘beyond reasonable doubt’),” she wrote.
Soon this was a line echoed across the media by The Australian’s Greg Sheridan (in a piece titled “Going woke risks destroying the ADF as a real fighting force”) and Sky News host Steve Price. Retired commando and News Corp regular Heston Russell, in conversation with Sky News’ Peter Stefanovic, also criticised the “trial by media” in the civil proceedings initiated by Roberts-Smith, instead calling for the veteran to be able to clear his name in front of criminal proceedings.
But Credlin also wrote that even a criminal conviction wouldn’t be enough for her, as the real fault for alleged crimes such as murdering a “person under control” fell with the Australian government and military bureaucracy.
“Plainly, a succession of risk-averse governments and military hierarchies expected too much of the SAS and the commandos, whose extraordinary level of skill and professionalism was thought to render them less likely to suffer casualties than normal infantry,” she wrote.
Sky News host Cory Bernardi took this argument a step further by declaring that he “cares nothing for the alleged crimes of Ben Roberts-Smith”. He cited the trauma experienced by SAS soldiers as why Roberts-Smith shouldn’t be held responsible for his behaviour, and even hinted at jealousy from other veterans as reasons why he had become the centre of Australia’s war crimes scandal.
Price rubbished a move to revoke Roberts-Smith’s Victoria Cross as the veteran had received the highest possible military honour in Australia at a different time than when he had allegedly committed war crimes. Instead Price took aim at Greens Senator David Shoebridge and other politicians for the calls: “Can I politely suggest that politicians of both sides shut up.”
News Corp’s readers seem to agree. The Australian published a letter from retired colonel Roger Dace who lambasted “armchair warriors”.
You should acknowledge that however bad his alleged failings, the service he rendered his country and his military colleagues at a different time, place and circumstances earn him the highest level of recognition for his exceptional bravery.
On her Sky News show, Credlin said the uniformly positive comments towards Roberts-Smith in the comment sections of her articles proved that the public was on the veteran’s side. She quoted a few in support, complete with how many people had liked them.
“Unless you were there, you don’t know what these men went through,” she read out, live on air. “411 likes.”
