The Albanese government passed up an opportunity to object to King Charles III awarding Ben Roberts-Smith a coronation medal despite a civil court having found he was a war criminal, internal documents reveal.
But a prominent historian has argued that rejecting a request from Buckingham Palace to bestow its own honour would be “unthinkable, politically and protocol-wise”, even if it was possible.
In June this year, Roberts-Smith accepted a coronation medal bestowed by King Charles on all living Australian Victoria Cross recipients and attended a function held in Western Australia’s Government House.
The decision was controversial in the wake of a judgment made in defamation proceedings by Justice Anthony Besanko that found, to a civil standard, Roberts-Smith had kicked a prisoner off a cliff, ordered an execution and was implicated in three other prisoners’ executions. Roberts-Smith denies all claims and is in the process of appealing the decision.
Documents obtained by Crikey from the government via a freedom of information request reveal that Buckingham Palace sought approval from the government for the decision, as well as administrative support for its enacting, which were both granted by Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman.
On August 3, 2023, a staff member from UK’s state honour administration body, the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, sent an email about King Charles’ desire to grant a medal to Victoria Cross recipients. “I would be grateful if you could confirm that this is acceptable,” they wrote.
Someone in the Australian Honours and Awards secretariat in the Governor-General’s Office sought advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet about the decision on August 10.
A month later, on September 4, Gorman signed off on recommendations from the department to “agree that the Australian government has no objection” to the decision. (This wording was subtly, but notably, different to the Palace’s request for approval). The document included briefing notes with the name of every recipient — including Ben Roberts-Smith.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded at the time by saying the decision was made by King Charles and not the Australian government. He also noted the continued litigation.
“There’s ongoing legal action on these issues so given the government’s engagement, it’s important that there not be interference in that … But it certainly wasn’t a government decision,” he said to Nine Network’s Weekend Today.
Gorman reiterated that the Australian government did not award its own coronation medal, and that its granting to Victoria Cross recipients was not the government’s decision.
“Following his coronation, His Majesty the King elected to make a personal gift of the coronation medal to Australian participants in the procession of the Commonwealth realms at the coronation,” he told Crikey.
Monash University historian Professor Jenny Hocking suggested it would be “very dramatic” to not approve the Palace’s decision for the awards, given it was the Palace’s awards to give.
“To say that’s not acceptable would be to say to the new King that we don’t think you should be choosing who gets your coronation medal. It would be unthinkable, politically and protocol-wise,” she said.
The coronation medal, which was given to 400,000 recipients, including every person who was part of King Charles’ coronation, is given at the behest of the King, and doesn’t mark any particular action or achievement by the individuals, Hocking said.
“It’s a new king, it’s their decision, and that language is very much in terms of something that’s already been decided,” she said.
