One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has spoken out in support of revered SAS hero Ben Roberts-Smith after his arrest for alleged Afghanistan war crimes.
The Victoria Cross recipient was taken into custody after arriving at Sydney Airport from Brisbane on Tuesday and the Australian Federal Police are expected to charge him with five counts of “war crime – murder”, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Ms Hanson addressed the arrest in a social media post, saying “I remain steadfast in my support of Ben Roberts-Smith” and vowing to stick with him.
I remain steadfast in my support of Ben Roberts-Smith despite news of his arrest today.
Ben, his immediate and broader defence family need the Australian people’s support right now and I will not abandon him like so many other politicians.
Ben was disgracefully arrested in…
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) April 7, 2026
Good pic.twitter.com/rKcJMRumUz
— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) April 7, 2026
“Ben, his immediate and broader defence family need the Australian people’s support right now and I will not abandon him like so many other politicians,” she wrote.
“Ben was disgracefully arrested in front of his twin 15-year-old girls. He will be held in jail for 7 days. He gets just one bail application. If that application fails, they can hold him for 2 years. AFP and OSI have spent $300 million dollars over 10 years to get to this point.”
Greens senator David Shoebridge reacted in the opposite manner, writing “good” on X in response to news of the arrest.
Roberts-Smith, 47, a former corporal in the Special Air Service Regiment was arrested by the officers from the Australian Federal Police and the Office of Special Investigator, an anti-war crimes taskforce, as part of an investigation launched in 2021.
The AFP said the charges related to the following alleged offences:
- The war crime of murder, in that he intentionally caused the death of a person, on or about 12 April, 2009, at Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan;
- The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 12 April, 2009, at Kakarak, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan;
- The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 11 September, 2012, at Darwan, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan;
- The war crime of murder, with another person, in that they intentionally caused the death of a person, on or about 20 October, 2012, in Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan; and,
- The war crime of murder, in that he aided, abetted, counselled or procured another person to intentionally cause the death of a person, on or about 20 October, 2012, at Syahchow, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.
The charge of “war crime – murder” carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Ms Barrett, who is facing criticism for her handling of the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack and focus on “hate speech”, said in a statement that the expected charges were “confined to a very small section of our trusted and respected ADF, which helps keep this country safe”.
“I want to thank the hardworking members of OSI and AFP for their continued dedication. I also want to thank state and territory law enforcement agencies that have provided assistance during this investigation,” she said.
Roberts-Smith was first accused of war crimes by by leftist journalists from corporate media giant Nine Entertainment in 2017. They were aided by Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, who gave evidence against his former SASR comrade during his defamation trial.
In 2023 he lost his lawsuit against Fairfax Media and journalists Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters and David Wroe after the Federal Court found allegations against him were “substantially true”. He then lost an appeal, and had an application to appeal again to the High Court rejected last year.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Nine paid $700,000 in hush money to Roberts-Smith’s mistress in a secret settlement after she threatened to sue over allegations McKenzie had broken a promise not to subpoena her to give evidence or reveal her as a source in the trial.
Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism in a battle in Tizak in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province in 2010 where he risked his life to storm two Taliban machine gun positions.
Header image: Left, Pauline Hanson at a press conference (YouTube) Right, Ben Roberts-Smith receiving his Victoria Cross (ADF).
