Andrew Hastie has challenged Pauline Hanson to explain why she would want to lower the standard of battlefield conduct expected of Australian soldiers, escalating a dispute over war crimes laws.
Senator Hanson had called on Mr Hastie, a special forces veteran, to say whether he supported “retrospectively changing criminal law to make prosecutions of veterans easier”.
Her criticism relates to changes made to Australia’s war crimes laws in 2024. The amendments were approved in both houses of parliament by voice votes, meaning there was no written record of which politicians opposed them.
The changes brought battlefield conduct into line with international law and have been used in war crimes prosecutions, including the case involving Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, who denies all allegations against him.
Mr Hastie said on Sunday that the amendments had also passed the Senate by a voice vote, suggesting Senator Hanson could face the same question about her position.
“The general principle here is that Australian soldiers don’t execute prisoners,” Mr Hastie told News24.
“And as I understood, the amendment in 2024 was to bring our law in line with a tactical application of the Geneva Code, whereby if you have an enemy combatant who’s in your control, has surrendered, or is incapacitated or wounded, they’re out of the fight.”
He said the central issue was how prisoners of war should be treated, adding: “And so Pauline Hanson needs to explain to the Australian people why she wants to lower the standard of battlefield conduct for Australian soldiers.”
