A “Free Ben Roberts-Smith” protest will go ahead the day after Anzac Day in Melbourne as anger grows over the arrest of Australia’s most decorated living soldier.
The rally was originally set for April 19 but was postponed following consultation with Roberts-Smith’s family, and has now been confirmed for 12pm on April 26 at Parliament House with their approval, organisers told Noticer News.
The demonstration is being organised by nationalist community group the National Workers Alliance, and leader Matt Trihey said he hoped patriotic Aussies would keep up their support, not only for Roberts-Smith but for all the special forces veterans still under investigation for alleged war crimes or facing charges.
“If you are: disgusted by the treatment of Ben Roberts-Smith, feeling betrayed by the government, concerned about the future of this country, public rally for Ben Roberts-Smith,” a flyer for the rally states.
“All charges must be withdrawn. Stand with Ben and all others from the SASR. Those who have never known war have no right to sit in judgement of those who have risked their lives for this Nation.
“Australian flags only.”
Mr Trihey, who regularly holds pro-Australia demonstrations in Melbourne and campaigns against mass immigration, said after the initial rally announcement that he decided to hold the rally to show the government how angry and betrayed the average Australian feels about the way Roberts-Smith has been treated.
Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient, was arrested on Tuesday after landing in Sydney from Brisbane with his teenage daughters, charged with five counts of “war crime – murder”, and refused police bail.
His legal team did not apply for bail on Wednesday, and he will remain behind bars until at least April 17 when he is set to appear in court again for a bail review. He faces life imprisonment if found guilty.
The arrest has sparked a huge backlash from everyday Australians, veterans and former AFP officers, and raised questions about why police ignored Roberts-Smiths’ offers to present himself if charges were to be laid, and why Nine Newspapers, which has led a years-long campaign against the war hero, appeared to have been tipped off in advance.
We are in the midst of a cultural revolution. You may not like it, but it is a fact.
The witch hunt against BRS is just one part of the war being fought. Fight back. Stand with BRS. https://t.co/0Fq25wMsld https://t.co/AZE7p3I6EO
— Aussie Revivalist (@BrianTaxpayers) April 7, 2026
Petitions demanding Roberts-Smith be freed have also been signed by tens of thousands of Australians, including one by anti-Communist commentator Drew Pavlou that he says gained 10,000 signatures in the first 24 hours, and another by campaign group Revive Australia that has attracted thousands more.
Roberts-Smith was first accused of war crimes by by leftist journalists from corporate media giant Nine Entertainment in 2017. They were aided by Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, who gave evidence against his former SASR comrade during his defamation trial.
In 2023 he lost his lawsuit against Fairfax Media and journalists Nick McKenzie, Chris Masters and David Wroe after the Federal Court found allegations against him were “substantially true” on the balance of probabilities – a lower threshold than the “beyond reasonable doubt” required in a criminal trial. He then lost an appeal, and had an application to appeal again to the High Court rejected last year.
Earlier this year it was revealed that Nine paid $700,000 in hush money to Roberts-Smith’s mistress in a secret settlement after she threatened to sue over allegations McKenzie had broken a promise not to subpoena her to give evidence or reveal her as a source in the trial.
Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism in a battle in Tizak in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province in 2010 where he risked his life to kill two Taliban machine gun teams while the SASR were heavily outnumbered.
In a book published last year, The Last Battle, author Aaron Patrick revealed Roberts-Smith’s 35 Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) E Troop soldiers were betrayed during the battle by a group of Afghan soldiers who were supposed to be assisting them.
Header image: Left, Ben Roberts-Smith receiving his Victoria Cross (ADF). Right, a flyer for the rally (NWA).
The post ‘Free Ben Roberts-Smith’ protest date confirmed: ‘Stand with Ben’ first appeared on The Noticer.
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