I have had cause to contemplate taking a defamation action, but never did. I found it wasn’t worth the effort, and people, after a short period of time, tend to forget what the offensive words were – plus you never can be sure how a defamation action will end up. 

I was amazed, therefore, when Ben Roberts-Smith VC proceeded to sue over the media reports of his actions in Afghanistan. He always stood a good chance it would backfire on him. With Justice Besanko’s decision, Roberts-Smith’s reputation is probably tarnished beyond redemption. He has not, however, been convicted of any crime at this stage, and it is therefore totally premature to talk about cancelling his Victoria Cross and erasing him from history at the Australian War Memorial. The politicians and media baying for his blood would have no inkling of what it means to go to war, especially to be in a unit that had done numerous tours of duty in the dirty little insurgency war our special forces were involved in from 2001 until 2021 in Afghanistan.

The SAS and commandos did the vast bulk of the fighting in Afghanistan. Those units did a superb job, and the SAS was the unit most feared of all by the medieval murderous Taliban forces (who would not think twice about killing thousands of their own innocent country men and women). No wonder so many of our troops have PTSD as a result of constant deployment. The infantry units of our Army could have been used more to give the SAS a rest. 

Despite the huge pressure being in combat puts on soldiers, historically, very few Australian soldiers have committed crimes against civilians. Compared with other armies (the almost daily atrocities committed by the Russian army in Ukraine and the People’s Liberation Army’s slaughter of innocent, defenceless Tibetans spring to mind), this is truly remarkable, and speaks volumes for our Army and its personnel. 

I pondered what should occur to decorated soldiers convicted of crimes, and concluded that whilst that must be mentioned in any write-up of a soldier’s history, it should not mean that he or she should lose a gallantry medal properly awarded for exemplary acts of courage.

Roberts-Smith not only received a VC but an earlier award for heroism as well. At huge personal risk, he, by his actions, on numerous occasions, saved the lives of countless of his comrades. Whatever he did that may have been criminal, he was an exceptionally brave man – a flawed hero, perhaps, but a very brave one, too. Let him keep his VC and his place in the AWM, but add after the citation words that reflect his wrongdoings as well. As the famous WWI historian Charles Bean said, the AWM needs to tell both the good and bad. We should never condone the deliberate killing of innocent civilians in cold blood, but we should keep all this in perspective, and be thankful and proud of the high standard the ADF continues to live by.