Gina Rinehart has slammed prosecutors’ pursuit of Ben Roberts-Smith and other SAS veterans, after the Victoria Cross recipient was arrested and charged with multiple war crimes.
Australian Federal Police are accusing Roberts-Smith – the former soldier and recipient of the Australian military’s highest honour, the Victoria Cross – of five counts of war crime – murder.
Roberts-Smith was arrested at Sydney Airport on Tuesday. War crime – murder carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Following his arrest, this masthead asked Rinehart whether she still supported Roberts-Smith. Her answer was an emphatic yes.
“I don’t understand how it can be justified to spend more than $300 million to try for years to bring SAS veterans, who have served our country, towards criminal proceedings, and most recently the arrest of Ben,” Rinehart said in a statement.
“As the recently passed Brigadier George Mansford succinctly stated, ‘The oath to serve your country did not include a contract for the normal luxuries and comforts enjoyed within our society. On the contrary, it implied hardship, loyalty and devotion to duty’.
“Have we lost sight of the fact that in our inadequately defended country, facing uncertain times, the morale of our defence force has already been brought to its lowest ebb since inception, our defence personnel numbers are inadequate, and recruitment is suffering?”
Rinehart said she hoped Australians extended “compassion and the Aussie spirit” to Roberts-Smith and remembered the duty he undertook for Australia.
The mining magnate joins several other high-profile Australians in reaffirming their backing of the soldier. Yesterday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also said they still supported him.
Controversial billionaire Elon Musk has also weighed in to the issue. In a response to a post on X by Australian activist Drew Pavlou, Musk wrote, “This sounds insane.” Pavlou had written a post supporting Roberts-Smith which included the call to action, “Free Ben Roberts-Smith”.
A spokesperson for Rinehart said they wanted it noted that: “Hancock Prospecting companies have long-established Veterans Employment Programs which provide ex-ADF members with accessible long-term job opportunities in Australia’s highest-paying sector (mining).”
Allegations of war crimes against Roberts-Smith were first aired in this masthead last decade, after which he sued the papers for defamation. Justice Anthony Besanko rejected Roberts-Smith’s case, ruling that on the balance of probabilities, the SAS soldier had committed war crimes. Roberts-Smith continues to reject this finding.
After three judges dismissed his appeal against this finding in May 2025, Rinehart said: “The relentless attack on Ben Roberts-Smith hasn’t made the country better, as some journalists like to imply, it’s just weakened our Defence Force already struggling with inadequate numbers to defend us”.
In the upcoming court action, the AFP will need to prove him guilty to the criminal, rather than civil standard, which requires a higher degree of certainty to convict.
Read more on Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest:
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