Defence Force report finds psychological harm to veterans from Brereton Inquiry was justified

Paul Brereton, the Army Reserve judge who concluded that 25 Australian special forces soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan, did an “excellent job” during his four-and-a-half year investigation despite inflicting psychological harm on some veterans, an official review found.

The previously unreported report by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force cleared its appointee of intimidating witnesses while conducting an investigation at the centre of one of the most disruptive episodes in the army’s 125-year history.

Among the veterans whose evidence was dismissed by the IGADF, the military’s investigations agency, were former Commando captain Heston Russell and former SAS regimental sergeant major Wayne Weeks.

Mr Russell said he was made to feel he had risked his soldiers’ lives, leaving him on the brink of emotional collapse. Mr Weeks, who had an office near a room used by the inquiry at SAS headquarters in Perth, reported hearing “yelling, swearing, screaming” during interviews.

The IGADF report into the inquiry, written by former Tasmanian judge Alan Blow and former military prosecutor Michael Griffin, said the questioning “came close to the limit on a very small number of occasions” but was “always polite”.

Unlike police investigations, where the accused can remain silent, Mr Brereton had powers similar to a royal commission, allowing him to demand current and former soldiers answer questions or face jail.

“No doubt a lot of witnesses had mental health problems that were exacerbated by their interviews,” the report into the inquiry says. “It is plausible that others developed mental health problems that were triggered by their interviews.

“But the subject matter was uniquely serious and it was therefore necessary for interviews to proceed.”

The report, dated July 15, was published by the IGADF on a third-level page of its website on August 26, where it was barely noticed.

Intimidatory tactics

The Brereton inquiry was the formal start of investigations that have been allocated more than $300 million and led to former SAS soldiers Oliver Schulz and Ben Roberts-Smith being charged with executing prisoners. Both men say they are innocent.

Former special forces brigadier Dan Fortune, who was one of the 423 people questioned by Mr Brereton or his staff, said the report appeared written to defend or justify intimidatory tactics by military lawyers.

“For many of the SAS veterans who were subject to the Brereton process, this does not reflect our experience and appears to handwave concerns of weaponised injustice,” he said on Monday.

Mr Russell, who led a commando platoon in Afghanistan in 2012, said the report’s account of the interviews was different to his experience, which he previously said drove him to an emotional low point.

“But hey, the white collar club can continue to mark each other’s homework and say everything is correct,” he said on Monday.

In an interview with the Zero Limits podcast in 2024, Mr Weeks accused the special forces’ parent unit, Special Operations Command, of failing to help SAS soldiers questioned by the Brereton Inquiry understand their rights and responsibilities.

Although they were members of the army’s elite regiment, most SAS soldiers did not have university degrees and were intimidated by Mr Brereton, who was then a major general in the Army Reserve and a judge on the New South Wales Supreme Court, according to people involved.

“They had all the information behind you on a screen, then they would just smash you,” Mr Weeks said on the podcast. “This wasn’t just like a normal question and answer session. This was those clowns yelling and screaming.

“It was pretty horrendous and unfortunately morale in the unit went downhill rapidly.”

On Monday, Mr Weeks said he stood by his comments on the podcast. As a Warrant Officer Class 1, he was the SAS’s senior non-commissioned officer when he resigned in 2019, in effect making him second-in-charge.

‘Unfortunate’

The report clears the Brereton inquiry of 20 accusations, although states that it was “unfortunate” Mr Brereton promised a witness they could have a break after answering his question and continued to question him.

Mr Brereton finished as commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission two months ago following complaints about his conduct, including his decision to help the criminal investigation into SAS veterans. He denied doing anything wrong and said in May he decided to step down to protect the agency from adverse publicity.

Among the veterans who helped the Brereton Inquiry was Liberal politician Andrew Hastie, a former SAS captain who in court accused some of the regiment’s members of holding a “pagan warrior ethos” where “killing was a sacrament in itself.”

Last week Mr Hastie said he did not expect to be called as a witness for the prosecution of Mr Roberts-Smith. Four SAS witnesses against the Victoria Cross awardee have been granted immunity for murders they may have committed, according to prosecution documents.

Evidence obtained about Mr Schulz or Mr Roberts-Smith through the Brereton Inquiry cannot legally be used against them in the case because witnesses were forced to talk to investigators.