Howard Calls Accused War Criminal the 'Modern Personification of the Anzac Tradition'

Guardian Australia · Ben Smee · Saturday 11 April 2026

Howard Calls Accused War Criminal the 'Modern Personification of the Anzac Tradition'

Ben Roberts-Smith, Victoria Cross recipient, arrested on war crimes charges and remanded in custody. Former PM John Howard responded by calling him the modern personification of the Anzac tradition, deepening the national divide over military mythology and accountability.

Howard calling Roberts-Smith the 'modern personification of the Anzac tradition' might be the most damning thing said about that tradition since Gallipoli. The bloke's on remand for alleged murder and the former PM reaches for the mythology like a drowning man grabbing the anchor. Sixty years of politicians draping themselves in the flag at dawn services and this is where it lands — the cenotaph drafted as character witness.

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