The Coalition has questioned the speed at which Attorney-General Michelle Rowland approved criminal charges against former Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, following revelations during a Senate estimates hearing.

Officials confirmed that the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions provided a prosecution brief to the Attorney-General’s Department on March 30, and Rowland approved the charges on April 1, only two days later.Roberts-Smith was arrested in Sydney on April 7 over alleged war crimes connected to his military service in Afghanistan.

Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash raised concerns about the short turnaround, asking officials why there appeared to be such urgency in approving the prosecution.

While the Coalition has not opposed the legal process itself, several members have argued that the circumstances surrounding the prosecution deserve scrutiny.

Senior Coalition figures, including Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and former prime minister John Howard, have stressed that the judicial process should proceed without political interference.

The Office of the Special Investigator, established in 2020 under the Morrison government, spent years investigating allegations of unlawful killings involving Australian special forces personnel in Afghanistan.

The criminal case follows Roberts-Smith’s failed defamation proceedings against media outlets, in which the Federal Court found, on the balance of probabilities, that he was involved in unlawful killings.Prosecutors in the criminal matter must now meet the higher criminal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.Officials acknowledged that the charges were approved within a very tight timeframe but declined to discuss operational reasons in detail.One possible explanation raised during proceedings was concern that Roberts-Smith intended to travel overseas to Singapore for business purposes.The Attorney-General’s office stated that it would not comment further while the matter remains before the courts.