The arrest and charging of former soldier and Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith on war crimes offences, following allegations he had murdered unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners, has split politicians across the divide, and has set the scene for the most significant war crimes prosecution in Australian history. Roberts-Smith was charged yesterday with five counts of murder, following a joint investigation between the Office of the Special Investigator and the Australian Federal Police. The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The arrest of the highly decorated former special forces soldier comes after a five-year investigation secured the co-operation of SAS eyewitnesses, according to Nine Media. They are expected to testify that they saw Roberts-Smith executing, or directing junior soldiers to execute, defenceless detainees during his time in Afghanistan between 2006 and 2012.

See the Fear-o-meter later in the newsletter for the political reaction to the arrest.

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Greed-o-meter

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program has been named the ninth most valuable airline loyalty program in the world, with a value of more than $US7 billion.

Source: On Point Loyalty

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On the impact of diesel shortages on businesses, particularly across regional and rural Australia:

 

“Diesel touches absolutely everything from paddock to port. And if a remote community can’t access fuel reliably, it’s not just inconvenience — it’s operations, it’s harvests, it’s timing, and ultimately it’s income.

 

So when you think about the dependency, it’s actually much broader than people often realise when they just associate diesel with transport. What we’re seeing first and foremost is that these rising fuel costs have created significant disruption.

 

It’s disruption not just in terms of cashflow, given how significantly costs have spiked, but also supply disruption. And our customers are telling us that in some locations they’re receiving anywhere from 10 to 50 per cent of their normal supply requirements.

 

So that is obviously creating very significant impacts as they make very tough decisions about how to prioritise — and the stress that creates."

News in brief

The ASX200 closed up 1.7 per cent yesterday, hitting a four week high. Technology stocks and mining companies found plenty of friends, even though US president Donald Trump’s deadline for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is later today.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government will take “every action” to shield Australians from oil-driven inflation shocks, including high-level talks with Singapore on securing trade in petrol, diesel and LNG. Meanhile federal ministers insist rationing isn’t being considered, while emphasising the focus is keeping supply flowing.⁠

CSL says it’s working through US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals, but its initial view is that most of its US product sales won’t be impacted — partly because its US plasma therapies are derived from US-sourced plasma.

Guzman y Gomez has delivered a strong third-quarter sales update, with network sales up nearly 20 per cent — and Australian comparable sales growth accelerating 7 per cent. Investors loved it and Guzman’s share price closed up 19 per cent.

The Artemis II astronauts, having travelled further into space than any human before them, have swung around the moon and are heading back to earth. The four – three Americans and one Canadian - have beaten the previous record of distance from earth set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

Fear-o-meter

One Nation’s Pauline Hanson on Ben Roberts-Smith

“I remain steadfast in my support of Ben Roberts-Smith despite news of his arrest today.

"Ben, his immediate and broader defence family need the Australian people’s support right now and I will not abandon him like so many other politicians.

"Ben was disgracefully arrested in front of his twin 15 year old girls.

He will be held in jail for 7 days. He gets just one bail application. If that application fails, they can hold him for 2 years.

"AFP and OSI have spent $300 million dollars over 10 years to get to this point.”

Green’s Senator David Shoebridge on Ben Roberts-Smith

"This is a moment of accountability and highlights the appalling cost of war on all sides. No one should be above the law. 

"These charges relate to killings that happened in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, for victims and survivors that is far too long to wait for justice.

"Deployments of troops in overseas conflicts always come at enormous cost to people on the ground who face the horror and brutality of war.

"It is essential we remember the human cost of war right now as the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the Iranian people escalate.

"From the Brereton report onwards there has been a gaping hole in the accountability for what happened in Afghanistan, with the only legal repercussions being directed against non-commissioned troops.

"Gold braid on your shoulder is not meant to be legal protection from complicity in war crimes. 

"If justice is to be fully delivered there must be further and closer attention paid to the role of senior officers who directed and oversaw Australia’s deployment in Afghanistan."

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