2020-11-12
Australian Greens Peace & Disarmament spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John said today that the scope of the Office of the Special Investigator's remit must be broad so that it can examine the conduct of all levels of command within the SAS and ADF, not just individuals mentioned in the Brereton Inquiry Report.
"The Office of the Special Investigator and their investigations must be completely independent, operate with full transparency and have the powers to examine all levels of command. It is unacceptable for this critical investigation to be led by an individual with professional or personal ties to the ADF," Steele-John.
"With everything we've heard today from the Prime Minister, and from Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation case against the Nine Newspapers, it is abundantly clear that there are significant cultural problems within the SAS that must be addressed.
"It is alleged on the public record that innocent people have lost their lives at the hands of Australian soldiers; the individuals responsible must lose more than just their medals and the Australian people must know to what extent those allegations are true.
"But, this is clearly not just a couple of isolated incidents, within a single SAS unit by a couple of rogue soldiers; these alleged incidents are the symptom of a much deeper cultural problem within the SAS.
"The Brereton Inquiry Report must be made public in full and not redacted to within an inch of being read by the public in any meaningful way. Australians deserve to know the truth."