Thread by @criprights

What people don’t recognise about #BenRobertsSmith is why he thought he was untouchable. Daddy served as Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia and was a former Supreme Court judge. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Rober…

But wait, there’s more.

2/ In 2002, Daddy Len was appointed Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the Australian Defence Force.

In 2012, he was appointed as chair of an independent Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART), to deal with individual complaints of sexual and other abuse in the ADF.

3/ As JAG, Roberts-Smith was responsible for reporting annually to Parliament on the operation of the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 and any other Commonwealth or Australian Capital Territory law relating to the discipline of the Defence Force.

4/ He was also responsible for making procedural rules for Service tribunals, providing the final legal review of proceedings with the Defence Force, and participating in the appointment of Judge Advocates, Defence Force Magistrates, Presidents and members of the courts martial.

5/ And Len served his own time way back when in Port Moresby, where I am guessing attitudes were quite different, because 1970. BRS would have grown up with those stories and that the conviction that he, as the son of this powerful man, famed for justice, was untouchable.

6/ But then there is this. What chance did the son of this man ever have of being disciplined in a court, called out as a war criminal, court martialled? None, I would guess. Because men like that have friends in high places. Friends like Kerry and Twiggy, generally.

7/ Poor Len. That fall from grace gunna hit hard. I imagine there will be a huge effort to ‘restore the family name’. And Ben will be chastised and sent off quietly to take up a role with a senior firm somewhere, I’m guessing. Lay low for a while, work off the ignominy.