Three hundred million in legal fees and counting

Spectator Australia · Rebecca Weisser · Sunday 3 May 2026

Three hundred million in legal fees and counting

The government has spent $318 million investigating war crimes allegations against around 230 soldiers, with little to show but lawyers' invoices.

Three hundred and eighteen million chasing 230 soldiers through a legal labyrinth that's produced more press conferences than convictions. The Brereton inquiry was meant to be a reckoning; it's become a billing cycle. Somewhere in Canberra a KC is buying a second beach house and calling it accountability.

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