Former commando Heston Russell has turned his attention away from the sworn enemy ABC to deliver a stinging slap to the Treasurer, accusing him of failing “basic accounting” by attempting to blame veterans for a budget blow-up.
Russell, who successfully sued ABC last year for falsely reporting that he was under investigation for shooting an unarmed prisoner, was scathing of Jim Chalmers’ excuse that the budget “slip” was due to spending on veterans.
Ahead of a mid-year statement, Dr Chalmers said on Sunday that a $1.8 billion “backlog” in payments to veterans inherited from the Coalition would put “substantial pressure” on the final budget outcome.
“It’s pretty incredible that the Treasurer would try to justify a budget blowout due to late payments to veterans,” Russell tweeted on Tuesday.
‘They are probably the surest excuses for public acceptance, but why didn’t you foresee it in the last budget? Didn’t you do your due diligence then? #Excuses’
Russell continued his line of thinking in a subsequent social media post where he also took some shots at the national broadcaster.
“Let’s look at the additional expenses, for example: ABC legal costs, ABC doctor retiring early and receiving half a million PA pension early while paying a new doctor’s full salary as well,” he posted.
Pictured is former ADF commando Heston Russell.
“It all seems too convenient and cashing in on support for veterans after the Royal Commission.”
It was announced today that the ABC would appoint former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks as its new CEO following David Anderson’s decision to step down just a year into a new five-year appointment.
In response to an X user who asked how the Treasurer could budget for claims not yet submitted, Mr Russell said he did not believe that was what Dr Chalmers was referring to.
“It is not at all that they have not yet been submitted, so due diligence would be done and at least an estimate would be provided of those that have already been submitted and are awaiting evaluation and payment, as has been the case. every year,” Mr. Russell tweeted.
“It’s pretty fundamental basic accounting.”
Russell received a wave of support for his online comments.
‘They were behind. They knew they were there. There is no excuse not to budget for them,’ wrote one X user.
“If this is true, it shows how superficial budget preparation is. Any junior accountant would have shown an accumulation of this known liability,” said another.
Dr Chalmers said the $1.8 billion veterans bill was a delay inherited from the Coalition.
A third added: “There’s no way they can blame student debt elimination (vote buying) or electricity rebates (vote buying) or voice failure or the greenwashing of energy dreams ( virtue signaling).
‘No, no, it had to be those pesky veterans and their “money grab.”‘
In April, Russell criticized the Albanian government for failing to support him during his defamation action against the ABC.
Russell singled out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defense Personnel Minister Matt Keogh in particular.
Russell said he had been “absolutely disappointed” by the response Keogh gave during a meeting in Canberra.
‘My initial comment was: “Why haven’t we received any feedback from your government?” To which he told me: “It is not government policy to comment on what the media does,” Mr Russell said.
In October 2023, Russell (pictured) won his defamation case against the ABC after a Federal Court judge ruled that he could not prove that the articles he published were in the public interest.
“Then I said, ‘I and my entire platoon had been through hell at the hands of the ABC: …To which I received a response saying, ‘I am a lawyer and I must always do what is appropriate under the law.’ law’.’
Russell said he had not heard from anyone in authority on the issue in the three years since the article was published and the subsequent lawsuit.
“Not even asking for a welfare check,” Mr. Russell said.
In October 2023, Russell won his defamation case against the ABC after a Federal Court judge ruled that the broadcaster could not prove that the articles it published were in the public interest.
Russell sued ABC and two investigative journalists for stories he said gave the false impression that he was under investigation for shooting an unarmed prisoner.
Those stories, written and produced by journalists Mark Willacy and Josh Robertson, aired on television, radio and online in October 2020 and November 19, 2021.
The defamation case is estimated to have cost taxpayers up to $3.5 million in legal fees, on top of the nearly $400,000 in damages paid to Mr. Russell.
In September, the ABC was forced to admit that additional gunshot audio was added to a video of Australian troops firing from a helicopter in Afghanistan.
The manipulated footage from the helicopter, where Russell ordered the soldier to fire a single warning shot at the villagers, was identified by Channel Seven’s Spotlight programme.