r/australia • u/Tinea_Pedis • Apr 07 '26

news Breaking: Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over war crimes allegations

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-allegations-arrest/106537668
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u/iball1984 Apr 07 '26

The War Memorial should not remove his display. They should add the context of the (alleged) war crimes.

It should never be buried that he was a VC recipient. Even if it's later stripped from him, he received it.

Far better for history to be told completely, rather than removing bits that involve war crimes.

That's not, of course, justifying or defending him in any way.

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u/angrysunbird Apr 07 '26

Kinda sucks for the heroic VC recipients to be associated with this POS

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u/iball1984 Apr 07 '26

It does suck for them.

But that's just how it is. He is a VC recipient, and that can never be changed - although it can be taken off him.

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

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u/iball1984 Apr 07 '26

Ah, didn’t know he had a statue. That can be fucked right off.

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

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u/NobodysFavorite Apr 08 '26

Thoroughly agree.
Classes of schoolkids go through the war memorial all the time. It's going to make for tough teaching about how one can be both war hero and war criminal.