Category Archives: Australian military

‘It’s about the underdog’: Ben Roberts-Smith launches brand to support family amid legal battle

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Accused war criminal announces venture with video on Instagram of him walking along beach and working out

Accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has launched a brand, saying he needs the income to support his family and fund his legal expenses after being charged with murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

Roberts-Smith launched the label with a video on Instagram of him walking along a beach on the Gold Coast and working out, soundtracked by media reports about him being awarded the Victoria Cross and his subsequent arrest. The video included the caption: “Get ready….the time has come. #neveroutofthefight #underdog”.

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ADF member ‘person of interest’ after video recorder found in HMAS Leeuwin women’s showers

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Vice Adm Buckley calls incident an ‘act of sexual violence’ and a ‘despicable betrayal of trust’

The defence department says a member of the Australian Defence Force is a “person of interest” in investigations after a video recording device was found in a bathroom on HMAS Leeuwin, in what the chief of navy called a “despicable betrayal of trust”.

A day after senator Jacqui Lambie told the Senate that a hidden camera had been found in a female shower facility onboard the naval ship, docked in Cairns, navy chief Matt Buckley confirmed a “video recording device” had been located in one of the ship’s bathrooms.

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Video recording device found in cabin of HMAS Leeuwin navy ship in Cairns

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Defence announcement comes after Jacqui Lambie tells parliament a camera had been found concealed in a women’s shower on board

A “video recording device” was found in the cabin of a Royal Australian Navy ship in Cairns, the defence department has revealed, just hours after senator Jacqui Lambie alleged in parliament that a camera had been found concealed in a women’s shower on the vessel.

The department confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that a device had been found aboard the HMAS Leeuwin three days earlier. In a statement after Guardian Australia had contacted the department for response to Lambie’s allegations, a spokesperson said police were investigating, but did not reveal further details about where the device was located.

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Ben Roberts-Smith attends Canberra event honouring Australian troops who served in Afghanistan

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Anthony Albanese speaks at Australian War Memorial event commemorating 25th anniversary of country’s involvement in the conflict

Anthony Albanese has honoured Australian troops who served in Afghanistan, using the 25th anniversary of the country’s involvement in the conflict to describe their heroism as a fight for “who we are as a people”.

The prime minister joined hundreds of veterans, family members and dignitaries at a commemoration of the start of the campaign in Canberra on Sunday, with nation’s most decorated living soldier and accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith among the crowd at the Australian War Memorial.

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Man allegedly breaks into Darwin military base, assaults ADF member and flees in stolen car

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NT police say person ‘unlawfully gained access’ to the base in the suburb of Winnellie and is still on the run

An intruder remains on the run after allegedly forcing their way on to a Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin, assaulting a member of the defence forces and fleeing in a stolen car.

Defence confirmed in a statement that on Monday afternoon a person “unlawfully gained access” to the base in the suburb of Winnellie.

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As China rises, Australia is increasingly enmeshed in the US war machine. Is the alliance still worth the risk?

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Australia is being exploited by an ally that could draw it, however unwillingly, into war with China, experts warn

“Physical security matters,” said Kevin Rudd, at his axiomatic best before the National Press Club this week.

“Our first responsibility is to secure our people’s future in this most contested region of the world.”

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How will Australia’s emergency services cope if satellites go down? With a sextant and a street directory

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Military and SES personnel being taught analog communication and navigation techniques as experts warn solar flare could knock out ‘critical space infrastructure’

Australia’s emergency services and military personnel are being trained to read paper maps, navigate without GPS support and sail by the stars in case something knocks out the nation’s space capabilities.

A panel at the 19th Australian Space Forum in Adelaide on Wednesday was asked to consider what would happen “if we suddenly lost access to critical space infrastructure – no satellites, no GPS, no remote sensing, no secure communications?”

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AFP assessing allegation of Gaza war crimes committed by Australian citizen serving in IDF

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Claims against Israel Defense Forces battalion include deliberate targeting and destruction of residential buildings in 2023 and 2024 without military justification

Australian federal police investigators are assessing a brief detailing alleged war crimes committed by an Australian citizen serving in the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza.

A 61-page brief has been handed to the AFP by the Australian Centre for International Justice detailing alleged war crimes committed by an IDF battalion in Gaza across 2023 and 2024.

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New Aukus drone tech to protect critical undersea cables as Marles warns: ‘seabed is a battlefield’

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Minister at Singapore defence summit also reveals Australia to buy only secondhand Aukus submarines from US

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels.

The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables.

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Aukus costs balloon with more cash and staff for submarine agency amid ongoing search for nuclear waste dump

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Labor has announced funding for Australian Submarine Agency will jump to $512m in next financial year amid concerns the sovereign submarine fleet may never arrive

The budget for Australia’s contentious Aukus deal has ballooned by more than $430m over four years, with the agency charged with securing the country’s nuclear-powered submarines requiring a massive injection of funding and staffing.

The Australian Submarine Agency’s resourcing for next financial year will jump by a third – from $385m to $512m.

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Gina Rinehart calls for immigrants’ social media to be screened in Anzac memorial speech

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Mining magnate also claims children are being taught to be ashamed of the Australian flag in a speech to 4,000 people on the Sydney Opera House steps

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, called for immigrants’ social media to be screened and said children are being taught to be ashamed of the Australian flag in untelevised remarks before an Anzac memorial service on the steps of Sydney Opera House on Friday.

Rinehart’s public appearance was attended by about 4,000 people and sponsored by her company, Hancock Prospecting, and RSL New South Wales.

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‘Racism is a cancer’: Indigenous leaders condemn orchestrated booing at Anzac Day ceremonies

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Uncle Jack Pearson, an army captain, says heckling ‘not in the Anzac spirit’ after welcome to country booed in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth

Indigenous leaders have condemned people who booed welcome to country speeches at Anzac Day dawn services across the country, with an army captain stating “racism is a cancer”.

Elders who spoke at services in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth on Saturday morning were booed following a campaign by Fight for Australia, the group formerly known as March for Australia, which has previously staged major anti-immigration rallies.

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Ben Roberts-Smith to attend first Anzac Day service since war crime charges

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Former soldier says he will ‘pay my respects’ at commemoration in Queensland where he has been living since being released on bail

Ben Roberts-Smith will attend an Anzac Day service in Queensland on Saturday morning, describing the day as “sacred” to him, the first commemoration since he was criminally charged.

Roberts-Smith, the recipient of the Victoria Cross and once one of Australia’s most lionised soldiers, faces five charges of the war crime of murder, allegedly committed during his service with the SAS in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.

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Ben Roberts-Smith planned to leave Australia and researched buying wellness business in Spain, court documents show

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Partner of soldier accused of war crimes says the couple discussed possibility of moving overseas to ‘create some normalcy in our lives’

Ben Roberts-Smith was planning to leave Australia to live overseas and had a business class flight out of the country booked in four days’ time when he was arrested at Sydney airport this month, court documents allege, with investigators telling a court “his willingness to return to Australia to face prosecution cannot be judged”.

Roberts-Smith was ultimately granted bail last week under strict conditions, a move opposed by prosecutors who said there was potential concern he was a flight risk and might try to avoid ever having to face trial for a series of alleged murders he committed in Afghanistan.

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Ben Roberts-Smith released from prison on bail after being charged with five counts of war crime murder

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Former SAS corporal granted bail ahead of potential trial on charges relating to alleged killing of civilians in Afghanistan

Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail under strict conditions while he awaits a potential trial on alleged war crimes.

The Victoria Cross recipient, once Australia’s most lionised soldier, faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan.

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Susan Coyle to be first woman to lead Australian army in ‘deeply historic moment’

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Appointment part of senior defence changes as navy chief Mark Hammond promoted to chief of defence force

Lt Gen Susan Coyle, an officer of more than three decades standing, will become the first woman to lead the Australian army.

Coyle has been announced as the new chief of army, with her term beginning in July.

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Australian War Memorial amends Ben Roberts-Smith display after former soldier charged with war crimes

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Text on plaque in Hall of Valour updated to include references to war crime – murder charges and the ongoing legal process

The Australian War Memorial has updated the display dedicated to Ben Roberts-Smith after the former Special Air Service (SAS) corporal was officially charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.

The changes, implemented on Friday, mean nearly half of the descriptive plaque in the museum’s Hall of Valour is now dedicated to events occurring after his military service, beginning with the initial reports of misconduct in 2016.

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Ben Roberts-Smith is back in court, now as a defendant. His case reminds us that there are laws even amid war

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The former soldier’s previous defamation trial presents the rare situation of there being hours of evidence of his alleged crimes already on the public record

For almost every day of his marathon defamation trial, Ben Roberts-Smith VC, sat in the same spot in the federal court. A chair by the window, bathed in sunshine, from where he could glare at witnesses giving evidence.

He sits now in a very different position.

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Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons Aukus, senior defence official warns

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Malcolm Turnbull asks defence department official what Australia would do if the promised Virginia-class and Aukus-class submarines don’t arrive

Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons the Aukus deal with the US and UK, a senior defence official has warned, declining to publicly countenance an alternative plan if Australia’s promised nuclear-powered fleet does not arrive under Australian command.

“Defence has been directed to pursue Aukus and we are pursuing Aukus and that’s our plan. I would not venture into the space about ‘Plan B’ or ‘Plan C’,” defence department deputy secretary, Hugh Jeffrey, told a Sovereignty and Security Forum in Canberra on Friday.

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Australian soldiers’ bodies ‘very likely’ disturbed by Israeli bulldozing at Gaza cemetery, senator says

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David Pocock’s comments come as new photos show scale of damage and government official says its ‘quite possible’ bodies disturbed

The bodies of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have “very likely” been disturbed, the independent senator David Pocock says, as new photos tendered to parliament show widespread damage of graves by Israeli bulldozers.

About 146 of the 263 graves of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have been damaged, Senate estimates heard last week.

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