Star-ranked officer faces court martial

Media reporting this week says a former star-ranked Royal Australian Navy officer will face a court martial in September.

The case will be heard by Chief Judge Advocate of the ADF Major General Michael Cowen QC.

Ahead of the case, Major General Cowan has ordered that the former Navy officer can only be referred to by the pseudonym Officer Brown, a star-ranked officer in the Royal Australian Navy – though most media reports suggest the accused is a ‘former’ officer.

Officer Brown is believed to have been hit with eight charges related to lucrative military contracts in Western Australia, possibly related to development works at the Henderson shipyards.

Media reports suggest that the alleged offending occurred before 2022.

Defence Minister Richard Marles would not be drawn on the matter ‘for legal reasons’.

When asked if it was appropriate the case was being heard before a court martial, a military tribunal, rather than a civilian court, Mr Marles said it was.

Mr Marles refused to give any details or commentary when asked if he was alarmed by the accusations, instead hiding behind the legal process.

Others have expressed bemusement as to why the charges will be heard in a military-court system rather than in a civilian court, given that ‘Officer Brown’ is a former officer, and the offending allegedly relates to civilian building contracts.

Greens spokesperson on Defence David Shoebridge is quoted by the ABC as saying there was “no credible reason to hide the identity of the accused senior naval officer or the details of alleged offences”.

“This is a court martial, overseen by very senior officers who are certainly capable of seeing past, and not being deflected by media reporting of the trial,” he said.

“Secrecy works for the interests of the government and Defence, but not for the public who deserve transparency and accountability.

“How are the public meant to have confidence in Defence’s massive spending when Defence does not have confidence in public institutions and instead pushes corruption cases into closed military courts?”

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FILE PHOTO: Henderson, Western Australia. Supplied by Ventia.

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