Australian War Memorial Council chair Kim Beazley has defended the controversial decision not to award a prestigious book prize to Chris Masters, declaring the decision had nothing to do with the fact that the veteran journalist’s book was about war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith.

Beazley claimed the war memorial had not retrospectively changed the entry rules for the Les Carlyon Literary Prize to block Masters from winning, despite leaked emails showing the memorial’s governing council overruled its own judges’ verdict that Masters’ book, Flawed Hero, was the best entry.

Australian War Memorial chair Kim Beazley has defended the decision not to award a literary prize to veteran journalist Chris Masters. Credit: Fairfax Media

Masters’ book examines Roberts-Smith’s actions in Afghani

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