09/06/2026
Here is another email forwarded to us from Tony Wadeson. We are sure this will be of interest to friends and family of 2/31st Battalion:
Hi Everyone,
An update on the circumstances surrounding the arrest procedure for BRS. Sent to me by our Federal President, Nigel Webster.
Russell Paten
President
Military Historical Society Australia – Qld Division
0427 207 307
SKY News
The special investigator for Australian soldiers’ conduct in the Afghanistan War says he has referred to the nation’s top anti-corruption body suspected “unauthorised disclosure” to media that pre-empted the arrest of the nation’s most celebrated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith.
Mr Roberts-Smith was arrested in April at Sydney Airport, off a flight from Brisbane, and was charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.
It was a surprise arrest but Office of the Special Investigator director-general Chris Moraitis said they “saw media on the morning around various places”.
“It’s a matter that concerns me,” he told budget estimates on Tuesday evening.
“The media seem to have been privy to things and therefore we’re taking steps to ascertain what happened there.”
He said the Australian Federal Police, and he, had written to the National Anti-Corruption Commission on the issue.
He said they were “asking them to consider and to provide information about that – we believe there’s an unauthorised disclosure”.
Mr Moraitis said the leak “surprised me that that happened because we’ve usually been pretty good on keeping a low profile”.
He said the NACC had not yet responded to seek further information on the referral.
Mr Roberts-Smith has always maintained his innocence and is expected to plead not guilty.
The Office of the Special Investigator was grilled on the decision to arrest Mr Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport.
“The arrest of any suspect for multiple murder charges is obviously preceded by careful operational planning, which considers all of the circumstances relevant to that individual case,” an official said.
“That planning is designed to ensure that the arrest is conducted lawfully, safely and without incident, as was achieved in this case.”
And when asked why they did not ask Mr Roberts-Smith to submit himself voluntarily to arrest, the official said that “in this particular case, the operational planning process did not support the option of an arrest by appointment”.
He cited the ongoing criminal case when asked why he could not provide for the rationale for that decision.
Mr Moraitis said his office called Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s office on the morning of the arrest informing her of the operation.
“My practice is … to inform the Attorney that an arrest was happening, so for example, on the morning of the arrest, I would have sent a message to the Attorney it was happening so that her and her office would be aware it would become public knowledge in the next 20 minutes, half-hour, one hour, and be aware,” he said
