Posted on 09/15/2022 11:37:55 PM PDT by naturalman1975
A Liberal frontbencher has lashed out at Australian officials who questioned why embattled soldier Ben Roberts-Smith was invited to Queen Elizabeth II's funeral - describing the saga as a disgrace.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is taking a group of dignitaries, VIPs and 'everyday' Australians to London via his VIP jet to attend the funeral of Her Majesty next Monday at Westminister Abbey.
But that invitation wasn't extended to Mr Roberts-Smith or other Victoria Cross recipients - with the controversial digger spotted at Brisbane International Airport on Thursday boarding a commercial flight to London.
Shadow defence minister Phillip Thompson slammed Australian embassy staff who questioned Mr Roberts-Smith's invitation to the funeral and briefed media that they expected he would turn it down.
Mr Thompson, an ex-soldier himself, called for them to be sacked - and said the trooper should've been taken to the UK on the PM's RAAF aircraft.
'All Victoria Cross recipients have been personally invited at the request of Her Majesty,' Mr Thompson wrote on a private Instagram page dedicated to supporting Mr Roberts-Smith.
'They all should have flown on (Anthony Albanese's) plane. A fundamental pillar of democracy is presumption of innocence.
'That hasn't occurred for Ben or any of our soldiers, it's been trial and conviction by the media. It's disgusting.
'The consulate staff who made that comment about Ben attending should be sacked.'
He called on the prime minister to intervene, investigate and remove consulate staff involved from their positions as 'they do not uphold Australian values.'
'They cowardly hide behind 'consulate official' in the paper and don't have the fortitude to put their names to the comment,' Mr Thompson continued.
'It's clear they don't believe in the rule of law and presumption of innocence, therefore should not be representing Australia at the High Commission in the UK.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I’m glad to hear Corp Roberts-Smith is making his own way to attend Her Majesty’s service.
Honor and integrity still exists.
PS: please note that I know that you Aussies spell it without the "u"...and I know why! ;-)
Albanese is Labor - he’s been Prime Minister for the last few months.
The reason Ben Roberts-Smith is controversial is because the left wing media here is pushing the idea that he may have committed ‘war crimes’ in Afghanistan. To be scrupulously fair, these claims are under investigation by the Australian Federal Police and it is entirely reasonable that the media should report this. But I also think it is fair to say that certain sections of the media have not been particularly supportive of the basic principle that a person should be considered innocent until proven guilty. Roberts-Smith has sued several media organisations for defamation but no verdict has yet been delivered in that civil case.
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