Kim Beazley defends Australian War Memorial decision to exclude Ben Roberts-Smith book from prize

The former foreign minister says the Les Carlyon award is explicitly for emerging authors', disqualifying Chris Masters's biography of the alleged war criminal

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Kim Beazley has defended the Australian War Memorial's decision to not award a prestigious literary prize to journalist Chris Masters for a book about alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith, insisting the rules prevent established authors from being considered.

The memorial chairman told Guardian Australia the prize is explicitly for emerging authors" and not for those who have previously published major titles.