Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, has spent $8.75 million on a 1960s apartment complex in Perth’s beachside suburb of Scarborough and renamed it after Ben Roberts-Smith.
The 23-bed property on Scarborough Beach Road is now called Ben Roberts-Smith Beach Houses. Large signs bearing the name have been installed on the side of the two buildings that make up the complex.
The units were bought in May as part of the mining magnate’s $200 million commitment to provide housing for veterans in need. 9News understands some veterans have already moved in.
“The beach houses are in Scarborough, not far from the SAS, where Ben served, and carry the name of Ben Roberts-Smith VC, MG,” Rinehart said in a statement issued through her company Hancock Prospecting.
“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 has been a strong backer of the former SAS soldier. Roberts-Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient who was born in Perth, is on bail after being accused of five war crimes, including murder. He denies the allegations.
His parents, Len and Sue Roberts-Smith, officially opened the accommodation in Perth’s northern suburbs, a few streets from the beachfront and entertainment precinct.
“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,” Len and Sue said in the statement.
“In many ways, it just begins. For many veterans, the hardest battles come long after they return home, and projects like this show them they have not been forgotten.”
This is the first of Rinehart’s planned veterans assistance projects, offering both short-term and long-term accommodation. The housing will be managed by Veteran Housing Australia, and more Hancock Prospecting-backed accommodation is due to open in South Perth next month.
