Labor changed war-crimes law with investigations underway

Dear Editor,

Parliament correcting a drafting error in Australia’s war crimes law is one thing.

Making the 2024 correction retrospective to 2002, while Afghanistan investigations were already underway, is quite another.

Parliament’s own scrutiny committee warned the change could affect criminal liability.

That does not prove the amendment was designed to help existing prosecutions. But it does make one question unavoidable: Why did Labor need to make it retrospective?

The government should release the advice it received about the affect on existing investigations and explain exactly why retrospectivity was necessary.

When criminal liability is involved, “trust us” is not enough.

I expand on this at markcroxford.net/read

Mark Croxford
Founder, Veterans Count
20-year Navy veteran, and
former media and political adviser to a Minister for Defence Personnel and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

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