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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Ben Doherty

‘I don’t want to be here’: Andrew Hastie was a reluctant but ‘straightforward’ witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case

Andrew Hastie Ben Roberts-Smith SAS Anthony Besanko
Andrew Hastie leaving the federal court in 2022 after giving evidence as part of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial.
Andrew Hastie leaving the federal court in 2022 after giving evidence as part of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

“I don’t dislike Mr Roberts-Smith at all. I pity Mr Roberts-Smith. I pity this whole process. I don’t want to be here.”

Andrew Hastie was a reluctant witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case. Hastie appeared only under force of subpoena in 2022: compelled to attend court, obliged to swear an oath, and to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

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