Originally published by Australian Financial Review.
25.06.2026
Gina Rinehart has bought and renamed two Perth beachside apartment blocks after accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith, converting the multimillion-dollar properties into housing for homeless veterans.
Australia’s richest person on Wednesday said she bought the apartment blocks in the coastal suburb of Scarborough and named them in honour of the former Special Air Service Regiment soldier.
“He is a West Australian, former SAS soldier, who is looked up to by Australians across our country, and who served our nation with extraordinary courage. He is a hero,” Rinehart said in a statement issued by her company, Hancock Prospecting.
“No veteran who has worn our nation’s uniform should be left without the dignity of a safe place to sleep, and somewhere to call home.
“It is a national disgrace that we leave approximately 6000 veterans to sleep in the streets.”
Roberts-Smith is on bail ahead of a trial on five counts of war crimes, allegedly committed between 2009 and 2012 during his deployment in Afghanistan. He has repeatedly denied the charges.
This month Roberts-Smith successfully sought to have his bail conditions varied so he could attend the official opening of the new Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial, to which he was invited as a winner of the Victoria Cross.
But Roberts-Smith did not attend the event in Canberra on Tuesday night. His lawyer, Slade Howell, told Sydney’s Downing Centre Court that Roberts-Smith had fallen ill and had stayed at home in Queensland.
On Wednesday, Rinehart said another refurbished apartment block in South Perth would open in July, and she was seeking another property in Queensland.
The Ben Roberts-Smith Beach Houses were officially opened on Wednesday by his parents, Len and Sue, who lauded Rinehart for the gesture.
“Our son has been through so much, and our family knows deeply that the challenges faced by veterans and their loved ones do not end when their service does. In many ways, it just begins,” they said in a joint statement.
The 25-bed Scarborough property was bought for $8.75 million in May. At the time of sale, it was described as a “blue-chip investment opportunity”.
The Roberts-Smith signage was erected last week, and workers were still refurbishing the apartments on Wednesday afternoon.
Rinehart has long refused to say whether she is financially supporting Roberts-Smith’s war-crimes legal battle.
In the lengthy statement Rinehart issued on Wednesday, anonymous veteran tenants were cited as thanking the billionaire for buying the property.
“At least two yelled in excitement, and one break [sic] down in tears knowing they potentially have access to safe, long-term housing,” the statement read.
Another said: “The thought that went into the provisioning of the food, linens, essentially everything you need is pretty special – not something I have come across before.”
The statement said the first resident had already moved into the property, which will be managed by Veteran Housing Australia.
