AFP Commissioner vows to find and penalise whoever leaked high-profile Ben Roberts-Smith airport arrest

AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett has vowed to find and penalise whoever leaked details to the media about Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest at Sydney airport last month.

In a long statement read to Senate Estimates on Thursday about the arrest on April 7 Ms Barrett said she was “disappointed” by the leak but “determined” to hunt down the person responsible.

Mr Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service officer, was arrested at Sydney Airport while disembarking from a flight from Brisbane with his teenage twin daughters. Nine agencies were aware of the planned date of the arrest.

Ms Barrett gave an insight into the operational decision marking behind the dramatic public arrest of Australia’s most decorated living veteran.

She said there were a number of reasons why the airport was selected for the arrest, including that it was a more controlled environment. But Ms Barrett said it was “disappointing” that one media outlet had been tipped off and had referred the matter to the nation’s peak anti-corruption body.

“I am not thus disappointed, the media outlet was there, but I am determined to find out how they knew of the arrest,” she said.

“If the date of the individual’s arrest or other sensitive information was disclosed to anyone in the media, this could be an unauthorised disclosure, and in my view, anyone who disclosed that information should face consequences.”

She said the option of allowing Mr Roberts-Smith to hand himself in was deemed to be an “unviable” after AFP received evidence he was “planning to relocate overseas”.

The AFP also claimed Mr Roberts-Smith had “no known” fixed home address.

Ms Barrett also gave an outline of the operation leading up to Mr Roberts-Smith’s charges.

She said since the Office of Special Investigator was established in November 2020 they had undertaken a range of tasks, including probing alleged war crimes by Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016.

She said a joint dedicated investigation called Emerald Argon was launched in December 2021 into allegations of specific instances of war crimes murder by ADF members in Afghanistan.

“Resources allocated to Operation Emerald Argon have varied over time,” she said.

“However, a senior investigating officer and a deputy senior investigating officer are responsible for day-to-day operational decisions.”

She said Deputy Commissioner Crime Ian McCartney had served as chair of the Operation Emerald Sensitive Investigations Oversight Board which oversaw the plans.

Ms Barrett said that board had supported the proposed charging of Mr Roberts-Smith on March 31. It was then referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and Attorney General Michelle Rowland.

Ms Rowland gave consent for the arrest on April 1.

“This authorised the operational planning for the arrest and charges,” Ms Barrett said.

“Because of requirements, under ministerial guidelines, or those that were directly or indirectly involved in the investigation, there were nine agencies or departments that knew of the date of the arrest.”