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Updated April 13, 2026 \u2014 4:30pm,first published 3:51pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Labor\u2019s special envoy for defence and veterans\u2019 affairs has asked all federal politicians to refrain from making public remarks about accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith as the former soldier awaits trial.<\/p>\n Solomon MP Luke Gosling, who spent 13 years in the army, emailed federal MPs and senators on Monday to discourage them from joining debate in \u201cany way shape or form\u201d given the case was causing distress among veterans and required a fair hearing.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a quick confidential note to provide some perspective on the allegations of war crimes against a high-profile veteran that will be tested in court,\u201d he wrote, according to a copy of the email seen by this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cA number of politicians, ex-pollies and veterans are coming out in support of someone who has been awarded our highest medals for individual bravery and they are doing so for a multitude of reasons and motivations.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are also many other veterans who are quietly watching proceedings, including some who were witness to events and have been significantly and very negatively impacted.<\/p>\n \u201cIn particular, there are former SAS troopers that have extreme moral injury and distress over what they believe to be clear war crimes in Afghanistan that they believe were covered up. Some of these veterans will testify in court.\u201d<\/p>\n Roberts-Smith, Australia\u2019s most decorated living soldier, was arrested last Tuesday and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder, allegedly committed during his deployment to Afghanistan. He will face a bail hearing on April 17.<\/p>\n Many politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have declined to share their views or comment on the situation, citing the upcoming court case.<\/p>\n A Coalition statement, issued last week on behalf of leader Angus Taylor, defence shadow James Paterson, veterans\u2019 affairs shadow Michael McCormack and defence industry shadow Phil Thompson, said the legal process must take its course.<\/p>\n Related Article Liberal Andrew Hastie, who served multiple tours of Afghanistan, said he might be called to testify against his former colleague<\/a>. He also warned that political commentary must not be allowed to prejudice the upcoming proceedings.<\/p>\n \u201cBen Roberts-Smith is entitled to the presumption of innocence,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s entitled to a fair trial, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m very circumspect about making comment, because the last thing we want is for his trial to be prejudiced by political commentary.\u201d<\/p>\n But others, such as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, have condemned the charges. Former prime minister John Howard last week said that \u201cto some Australians, Roberts-Smith is the modern personification of the great Anzac tradition\u201d.<\/p>\n Gosling, in his email, said the situation was complex and had divided former SAS soldiers while causing distress in the broader veteran community. \u201cThe point is that we need a fair trial to resolve matters for all who have been impacted and there is a long way to go,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has the caucus lines but can I just discourage everyone from joining the public commentary about the accused in any way shape or form. It is not appropriate for MPs to comment on a serious criminal trial which will be before a jury.\u201d<\/p>\n Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/6a5256607d96c7aa8aecae36093d342f784ed2c7.jpeg\")
Ben Roberts-Smith outside court in May 2025.Sam Mooy<\/p>\n![\"Federal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776071174_401_9c153a7c15d1e11233b36b224c63da148c3a5578.jpeg\")
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Natassia Chrysanthos<\/a> is Federal Political Correspondent. She has previously reported on immigration, health, social issues and the NDIS from Parliament House in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated April 13, 2026 \u2014 4:30pm,first published 3:51pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-603774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}