
Gina Rinehart criticises ‘relentless attack' on Ben Roberts-Smith and media ‘gloating'
Gina Rinehart has criticised an unfair and 'relentless attack' on the former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith and argued that it has weakened the nation and a defence force 'already struggling with inadequate numbers to defend us'.
Australia's richest person, who has donated to a fund designed to support the legal costs of former SAS soldiers, has declined to say whether she personally funded Roberts-Smith's legal costs.
On Friday the former soldier lost his appeal against a defamation case ruling, with three justices of the federal court agreeing he was not defamed by Nine newspapers and the journalists Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters when they published reports in 2018 which claimed he had committed war crimes. He has always denied the allegations.
The decision handed down on Friday morning in Sydney marked a key moment in a marathon legal battle that has spanned seven years. It upheld the decision of Justice Anthony Besanko, who found in 2023 that Roberts-Smith had, on the balance of probabilities, committed war crimes while deployed in Afghanistan.
Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email
In response to media commentary about the case, Rinehart told the Sunday Times: 'The relentless attack on Ben Roberts-Smith hasn't made the country better, as some journalists like to imply, it's just weakened our Defence Force already struggling with inadequate numbers to defend us.
'Many patriotic Australians query, is it fair that this brave and patriotic man who risked his life on overseas missions which he was sent on by our government, is under such attack.'
Rinehart has also told the Nightly the court's decision 'seems to be taken by some in the Channel 9 group as something they can gloat about'.
In an editorial published on Saturday, the Sydney Morning Herald said 'our journalism, led by McKenzie and Masters, has withstood the most severe scrutiny'.
'While this verdict should draw a line in the sand on years of litigation, it must not be the end to a much-needed focus on Australia's conduct abroad,' the editorial said.
Rinehart in 2021 donated a reported $1m of her own money and a further $610,000 from her companies towards the legal defence of former special forces personnel through the SAS Resources Fund, which has previously listed Roberts-Smith as a donor and ambassador.
Hancock Prospecting donated to the fund in the wake of 'left media' criticism of defence personnel after the public release of parts of the Brereton report in 2020, according to an online statement.
Sign up to Breaking News Australia
Get the most important news as it breaks
after newsletter promotion
'The HPPL Group was keen to provide support following the whistle-blowers and then Government's unfortunate [publication] decision … throwing our defence personnel without fair trial to the left media,' the statement reads.
'The [resulting] loss of life has been far greater since the enquiry, than the Australian Defence lives lost in active service in Afghanistan.'
Rinehart's company websites advertise a further 'seven-figure' donation to another special forces fund, the Commando Welfare Trust, as well as her donations to veteran housing projects.
The decision of the full bench of the federal court affirms that claims made in news reports by McKenzie and Masters in 2018 that Roberts-Smith was responsible for the murder of four unarmed civilians when deployed in Afghanistan were substantially true.
Roberts-Smith, 46, is one of Australia's most decorated soldiers. He was awarded Australia's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross, in 2011, for single-handedly taking out machine-gun posts to protect pinned-down colleagues in Afghanistan.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Female pub-goer is shot by police during happy hour in Townsville after threatening officers with a knife
A woman has been shot by police at a Far North Queensland hotel. Police were called to the West End Hotel in Townsville about 5.30pm on Tuesday following reports a woman had been brandishing a knife and making threats. More to follow.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Long running ABC program Q+A to be axed after 17 years following a painful decline in ratings
Q+A, one of the ABC's flagship current affairs and news programs will not return to air, after taking a break in May. It was scheduled to return in August, but those familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity say it won't return. The ABC is set to announce the decision to discontinue the show later this week. The show has come under fire over the last few years, after churning through different hosts following the departure of Tony Jones, who left in 2019. Q+A has seen several changes in its hosting lineup, first with Hamish Macdonald, David Speers, Virginia Trioli, Stan Grant and most recently Patricia Karvelas taking over as host. The number of episodes was also cut by ABC staff in 2024, going from 40 episodes a year to just 24. Q+A also was shifted from its usual slot of Monday night, to Thursday night, a move that was eventually reversed by the ABC. The show also has seen its ratings collapse in the last 5 years. From a peak 600,000 viewers in 2020, the Q+A crashed to a record low of just above 200,000 viewers across the five major capital cities in April 2021. In August 2023, during the show's 'Garma Special', Q+A received its lowest ratings ever, with fewer than 84,000 metro viewers. Daily Mail Australia's Political Editor Peter Van Onselen said the program would not be missed if it didn't return to ABC's roster in 2024. In an opinion piece for The Australian, Van Onselen said Q&A - hosted by Patricia Karvelas - had received 203,000 views nationally. 'With numbers this woeful coupled with how out of touch with mainstream Australia the program has become, it really needs to be put out of its misery,' he wrote. 'There have been enough failed reboots to justify finally axing it.' The commentator said cracks started to appear after Tony Jones stopped hosting after a decade in the role from 2008 to 2019. 'It wasn't all that long ago that the program was vibrant and interesting, with discussions well led by former host Tony Jones,' Van Onselen wrote. 'I remember appearing on it at the time. Ratings regularly hit the one million mark, which precipitated the discussion about changing its time slot.' Van Onselen lashed the show for not being informative enough and hosting discussions that were 'one-sided, uninteresting and rarely funny'. He claimed it was the ABC's 'stubbornness' that was saving the show from being axed for good but that a replacement would be welcomed.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Australia's biggest aluminium smelter on verge of collapse putting up to 6000 jobs in jeopardy
Australia's biggest aluminium smelter is in crisis talks with the federal and state governments to continue operating as crippling electricity bills threaten 6,000 jobs. Tomago, which is majority owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, is negotiating on the design of its 2026 to 2029 electricity contract, The Australian Financial Review revealed last week. The Newcastle smelter employs 1,200 people full-time but its possible closure would joepardise the future of another 5,000 workers in the Hunter region, north of Sydney. Australia's key aluminium smelter, which opened in 1983, is now seeking support from the NSW and federal governments to stay afloat as Australia's only manufacturer of long-steel, in Whyalla, is propped up by the South Australian government. The latest development comes a week after Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium to 50 per cent. Sydney radio 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham suggested taxpayers could be stumping up billions of dollars just to keep Tomago afloat. 'This is not good: Tomago Aluminium, Australia's biggest smelter is on the verge of collapse,' he said on Tuesday. 'Why? Their power bill is too high. They're in emergency talks with state and federal governments asking for billions of dollars just to stay open. And if it shuts, well, we're not just losing a smelter, we're risking 6,000 jobs. 'There are thousands of families, contractors, supplies and regional businesses on the line.' Rio Tinto, which owns 51.55 per cent of Tomago Aluminium Company, in January welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Future Made in Australia plan to provide production credits to alumunium manufacturers. Chief executive Kellie Parker also begged for federal government help to pay for sky-high electricity bills. 'The Australian government's commitment shows strong confidence in domestic manufacturing and the nation's position in the global economy,' she said. 'As traditional energy sources for heavy industry become increasingly uncompetitive, today's announcement is a critical piece in helping future-proof the industry. 'Such support is crucial for sustaining and growing regional economies.' The smelter's big shareholder Rio Tinto also flagged a bailout package from the NSW government to keep Tomago operating. 'Rio Tinto also welcomes ... looks forward to working with the New South Wales Government to help secure the future of that operation,' it said in a media release. Tomago, which is majority owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, employs 1,200 people full-time but its possible closure would jeopardise the future of another 5,000 workers in the Hunter region north of Sydney Rio Tinto also owns the Boyne Smelter in central Queensland, which last year received subsidies from the state government to transition to renewable energy. Albanese in January visited the Tomago plant with the Labor member for the then marginal seat of Paterson, Meryl Swanson. 'This is my third visit to Tomago, because this is such an important facility,' he said. 'And essentially it's about people, it's about the jobs that are created here. Up to a thousand direct jobs. 'But when you look at this local community, there's 5,000 jobs depend on this facility just locally. But more importantly than that, it's the tens of thousands of jobs throughout Australia that depend on us being able to make things here.'