Human Rights advocate supports SAS Assn’s critique of Brereton Inquiry

by Dr Kay Danes, OAM, (Human Rights & Veteran Advocate)

http://www.kaydanes.com

29 Jan 2026

I want to submit my review of this particularly important article ‘Brereton Inquiry, Angus Campbell, Andrew Hastie tarnish Australian soldiers’ reputation forever’ written by The Hon Martin Hamilton-Smith , National Chairman of the Special Air Service Regiment Association (1978-1982). A full copy can be found at: https://cairnsnews.org/2026/01/28/brereton-inquiry-angus-campbell-andrew-hastie-tarnish-australian-soldiers-reputation-forever/

It is my opinion that this article deserves wide distribution. It’s powerful and is concerned with the handling of Afghanistan war crimes allegations by the Australian Government.

Reading Martin Hamilton-Smith’s powerful article on the handling of Afghanistan war crimes allegations left me deeply moved and compelled to express gratitude for his courage in speaking truth to power.

As someone who cares deeply about justice and the treatment of those who serve our nation, I found myself nodding along with every paragraph, grateful that someone with Hamilton-Smith’s credibility and experience is willing to stand up for fundamental principles of fairness.

What struck me most powerfully was Hamilton-Smith’s refusal to let these soldiers become mere statistics or political talking points.  He reminds us that behind every allegation are real people—the 26,000 veterans who served in Afghanistan, their families caring for loved ones with physical and mental wounds, and the parents who buried their sons.  His writing honours their humanity while demanding justice on their behalf.

In our polarised political climate, I was impressed by Hamilton-Smith’s willingness to call out failures across the political spectrum.  His criticism of both Labor’s Richard Marles and Liberal’s Andrew Hastie demonstrates that this isn’t about partisan point-scoring—it’s about defending principles that should unite us all.  The observation that both politicians “strive to signal their virtue at the expense of justice” cuts right to the heart of what’s wrong with how this has been handled.

Hamilton-Smith doesn’t write as an armchair critic.  As a former SAS Regiment member and National Chairman of the SAS Association, he speaks from lived experience and deep connection to the community he’s defending.  When he describes the “strikingly different versions of events on the battlefield” and the “personality clashes and individual enmities amongst the troops,” he’s drawing on understanding that only comes from having been there.  This authenticity makes his arguments impossible to dismiss.

The comparison to Vietnam veterans hit me particularly hard.  Hamilton-Smith reminds us that we’ve been here before—that we mistreated veterans returning from an unpopular war, only to hold “Welcome Home” parades fifteen years later in 1987 as a form of national apology.  The warning “we appear to have learnt nothing” is both heartbreaking and infuriating.  How can we repeat the same mistakes with our Afghanistan veterans?

What I found most compelling was Hamilton-Smith’s unwavering commitment to the presumption of innocence.  He doesn’t argue that allegations shouldn’t be investigated—he argues they must be investigated properly, through courts, with due process.  His statement that “only a jury of their fellow Australians in a properly constituted court has the right to pass judgement” is so simple, so fundamental, and yet so completely ignored by those in power.

Hamilton- Smith’s point about the broader consequences really opened my eyes.  When current service members see how Afghanistan veterans are being treated —stripped of honours before any conviction, condemned by their own leadership based on allegations alone—while also reading about record veteran suicide rates, why would they stay?  Why would young Australians enlist?  The damage to our defence capability is real and entirely self-inflicted.

What gives me hope is that Hamilton-Smith doesn’t stop at criticism.  He calls for “a better and more just protocol for dealing with war crimes allegations, now and into the future.” This is constructive, forward-thinking advocacy that offers a path out of this mess.  We need systemic reform, not just political theatre.

This article challenged me to think more deeply about what we owe to those who serve in our name.  It’s easy to support our troops with words and symbols.  It’s much harder to defend them when the political winds shift, when supporting them becomes uncomfortable or unpopular.

Hamilton-Smith reminds us that true support means insisting on justice—not rushing to judgement, not throwing soldiers “under the bus” to protect politicians and generals, not punishing people for alleged crimes before they’ve been proven in court.

The most haunting line for me was the closing observation: “Now our Afghanistan veterans truly are alone.” After everything they’ve been through, after serving when their country called, they deserve better than to be abandoned by the very institutions that sent them to war.

I’m grateful to Martin Hamilton-Smith for writing this article with such clarity, passion, and moral authority.  He’s given voice to thousands who feel silenced and abandoned.  He’s reminded us all that justice isn’t about virtue signalling—it’s about following proper processes, honouring fundamental rights, and treating people with the dignity they deserve.

His service in the SAS Regiment and his continued advocacy as National Chairman of the SAS Association exemplify what it means to live by the values of loyalty and integrity long after the uniform comes off.

This article needed to be written.  I hope it’s widely read, deeply considered, and ultimately leads to the systemic reform Hamilton- Smith calls for.  Our veterans deserve nothing less.

This submission from the Special Air Services Association deals with the conduct of the IGADF Afghanistan Inquiry Report into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.