Ben Roberts-Smith's dramatic fall from grace | ABC News

[Music] the tallest man in the room with the military's highest honor according to the citation Ben Robert Smith risked his life in Afghanistan to save others you're going to hear lots of politicians calling you a hero it's extremely flattering it doesn't really sit comfortably with me to be honest a patrol commander on the battlefield Ben Robert Smith easily transitioned into a leader in public life he hit the speaker circuit I'm saying you need a culture of discipline and rubbed shoulders with the queen and a future king in 2014 he was appointed chair of the Australia Day Council a year after he was awarded father of the year Ben Robert Smith is a great Australian hero uh he is uh he is someone that all Australians look up to in every respect his portrait pistol grip hangs in the Australian war memorial Ben Robert Smith was running Channel 7 in Queensland when his biggest commercial rival nine ran a series of stories that would shatter his image they claimed the war hero was in fact a war criminal with his boss seven West chair Kerry Stokes bankrolling his legal fees the soldier went into battle again for his reputation the move proved to be a disaster as he sat through 110 days of hearings former Battleground mates gave evidence about murders and bullying the final judgment found the imputation he has disgraced his country is true we should be saying action by the Australian war memorial to remove the display that is now there for Ben Robert Smith his uniform and his medals the association for SAS veteran says the findings don't mean Ben Robert Smith is guilty of a crime but the public image of Australia's one-time war hero has suffered a catastrophic blow Isabel Rowe ABC News Sydney

Channel: ABC News (Australia)

Views: 58,969

Keywords: Australia, abc, abc news, news, war, war crimes, afghanistan, soldier, adf, australian soldier, australian army, ben roberts-smith, defamation, federal court, roberts-smith, defence force, media, press, journalists, journalism, defence

Id: Z-49fGbLq0k

Length: 2min 8sec (128 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 01 2023