It’s a good thing Kerry Stokes has deep pockets.
As the pre-trial hearings in Victoria Cross recipient and alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case drag on, the legal bills for the billionaire media baron are piling up.
Stokes is backing Roberts-Smith in the fight against allegations made by Nine (formerly Fairfax Media), with a blockbuster Federal Court trial due to start on June 7. And with a judge agreeing the trial is likely to stretch for between eight and 10 weeks, insiders say Roberts-Smith’s legal costs could quickly hit $5 million, with at least $3.5 million likely to have been spent on lawyers and barristers so far.
Last year, the AFR’s Rear Window column reported that the Stokes’ private investment vehicle, Australian Capital Equity (ACE), had extended a line of credit to Roberts-Smith to help fund his legal action against the Nine newspapers. At the time, it was drawn down $1.9 million.
Then there was this exclusive story in The Age/SMH last month claiming that Stokes had funded Roberts-Smith’s defence out of the Stokes-chaired Seven West Media’s public company funds. Seven says the loan to ACM has been repaid.
The money was given to Roberts-Smith to fight allegations before the military watchdog, and to pay for his defamation proceedings.
But with a landmark trial involving more than 70 witnesses, multiple jurisdictions and complex national security laws, Roberts-Smith is going to need much more than $1.9 million to pay for his defamation action, likely to be one of the biggest in Australian history.
Of course it’s only speculation as to what the total cost will be. But with two QCs and two junior counsels representing him in the Federal Court, his legal team alone could cost $250,000 a week. And that’s on top of the cost of lawyers throughout multiple investigations by the Australian Federal Police and the inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force.
It might be a drop in the ocean for Stokes, but minority shareholders at Seven West Media could have some concerns their money could be lent out again.
*This story has been amended for clarity.
Legal costs are out of this world!!!
How the hell is the guy being sued by Dutton going to have a fair chance?
He’s not, which is the whole point.
War heroes are remarkably expensive. Worse still is that too many would rather fund them than everyday services where we would get far more bang for far less buck.
I hope our hero keeps dodging bullets of every kind. One of his medals is made from the iron of a melted down cannon from the battle of Waterloo. The official language of Australia is not French, it’s not German and it’s not Japanese, thanks to such heroes. So criticise your football heroes, your cricket heroes, your mates, your family and your politicians, and me. But, please, not this bloke.
You need to go to Specsavers. There is NOTHING heroic about war crimes.
It is a sad watching the Americanisation of the SAS. You clearly failed to notice photos of SAS soldiers in skull masks, flying Nazi flags & Confederate flags. You clearly think the murder of civilians is nothing of any importance. A trial is needed. The military has been tarnished. AN ALLEGED WAR CRIMINAL. This bloke. He MUST face the courts.
Satire?
Australia doesn’t have any “Official Language” actually. War crimes denigrate the sacrifices made by all past and existing military. He deserves a fair trial but that’s it.
Exactly which of his medals is made from iron from a Waterloo cannon? Victoria Crosses are made from bronze, cut from Russian cannons captured at the siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean War, about 50 years after Waterloo.