Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith being awarded the Victoria Cross at an investiture ceremony at Campbell Barracks in Swanbourne, outside Perth in June 2010. Photo: CPL CHRIS MOORE / AUSTRALIAN DEPT OF DEFENCE / AFP
By Millie Roberts for the ABC
Ben Roberts-Smith's billionaire backer, Kerry Stokes, says the imputations found to be true in the crushing court judgement do "not accord with the man I know".
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton took to TV to say Australia's elite Special Air Services (SAS) regiment had seen "significant culture change".
But as some of the country's most high-profile figures react to Thursday's defamation ruling in the Federal Court, Roberts-Smith - the man at the centre of the allegations - hasn't been heard from.
After 110 days of evidence and one of the most expensive trials in Australian history, the war veteran didn't turn up to hear Justice Anthony Besanko's findings, which reverberated much further than the courtroom.
The New York Times called it Australia's "trial of the century", while the BBC splashed the judgement on its home page and television channels.
The Washington Post asserted: "In the minds of some Australians, Roberts-Smith embodied the values of courage and sacrifice set by Australian soldiers since World War I."
But, according to the judgement, and many others, that has now changed.
Justice Besanko found there was substantial truth to allegations of war crimes and murder during Roberts-Smith's deployment to Afghanistan.
Australia's most decorated living soldier had been suing three newspapers and three journalists who made the allegations.
His bid to restore his reputation backfired - badly.
Roberts-Smith's employer, Seven West Media - which is owned by Stokes - released a statement saying: "[He] will review the judgement with us and make a decision on his future in the near future."
Outside court, his barrister Arthur Moses SC said only that his team would "consider the lengthy judgement that his honour has delivered and look at issues relating to an appeal".
Britain's Queen Elizabeth greets Australian Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London on 15 November, 2011. Photo: ANTHONY DEVLIN /POOL / AFP
Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, investigative journalists who were also named as respondents in the defamation case, said they never wanted to go to court.
"But enough brave men in the SAS stood up and told the truth and for them I am just so relieved that the case has vindicated what they did," McKenzie told the ABC's 730 program.
Masters told the ABC News Channel he was "massively relieved" the trial was over.
"It was not just morally wrong for civilians to be executed in Afghanistan, it was also strategically wrong too, it hurt the war effort, and a lot of soldiers knew that," he said.
The Australian Centre for International Justice and the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organisation released a joint statement, welcoming the judgement.
"Together with whistleblowers, survivors and human rights defenders from Afghanistan, investigative journalists have helped set in motion several processes to reckon with Australia's legacy of military engagement in Afghanistan, ranging from criminal investigations to reform of military education and training on the laws of armed conflict," they said.
It remains unclear what will happen to the tributes to Roberts-Smith's service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Federal Greens MP David Shoebridge has already called for them to be removed.
While the civil case has wrapped up, media law expert Justin Quill said a criminal follow-up is unlikely.
"Criminal charges might occur, but they won't occur as a result of - or because of - this judgement," he told The Drum.
"No doubt the authorities will be looking at the evidence given in this case, but it won't influence their decision to charge or not charge Ben Roberts-Smith or any other soldier."
The Australian Special Air Service Association described the judgement as a "very disappointing day".
"This is a very proud regiment, it's one of the finest units in the Australian order of battle," its chairman Martin Hamilton-Smith said.
"It's been very traumatic for a group of soldiers, 99.9 per cent of whom did nothing more than fight bravely for their country."
Meanwhile, Dutton, a former defence minister, said the SAS had changed in the years since its operations in Afghanistan.
He told the Today Show: "You go to visit the regiment in Perth now, there are very few people there who even served in Afghanistan or were involved in conflicts in the Middle East."
"The next generation, even one removed, now are serving in the SAS," said Mr Dutton.
A spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said it would be "inappropriate" to provide comment.
"This is a civil defamation matter to which the Commonwealth is not a party," they said.
- ABC
