Defence Minister Richard Marles has brushed aside concerns over how long it is taking to investigate alleged Australian war crimes, declaring it is “really important” to allow the “appropriate” process to play out.

Over recent weeks members of the Army’s special forces community have increasingly criticised the slow handling of cases from the Afghanistan conflict which were uncovered by the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force.

In his 2020 report, Justice Paul Brereton recommended 19 soldiers be investigated by police for the “murder” of 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, and the cruel treatment of two others.

Appearing on Sydney radio station 2GB on Tuesday, the Defence Minister was asked whether the allegations needed to be investigated more swiftly, given only two charges have so far been laid.

“Well, they do, but they need to be done thoroughly and it’s important that they be looked at,” Mr Marles explained.

“If what we’re talking about is the work of Justice Brereton in terms of his inquiry into what he investigated in Afghanistan, I actually think all of that did happen in a prompt way. I mean, it was an enormous body of work which was undertaken by Justice Brereton.”

2GB host Ben Fordham then pressed the Minister about the case of fallen soldier Sean McCarthy whose parents David and Mary McCarthy received a letter confirming their son had been cleared of war crime allegations well after he was killed in action in 2008.

“It was his mum and dad who copped a call years later to say, we’ve got some news, he’s now been cleared. He was already dead. So, you can’t say they’ve all been done swiftly,” Fordham then challenged the Defence Minister.

“Well, there was an enormous body of evidence that was investigated,” Mr Marles responded.

“Obviously this was done years ago, but it takes a long time to go through all of this and it has to be done thoroughly and accurately. But I do feel that the work that was undertaken by Justice Brereton is a critical piece of work and that was acknowledged by the former government as well.”

“This goes to who we are as a country and it is important that we hold ourselves to account. And that’s what Justice Brereton’s work did. And from here, the process should play out in accordance with the law and that’s what’s occurring,” the Minister argued.

In response to Fordham’s suggestions that soldiers were being judged on their actions years after fighting “ruthless enemies”, Minister Marles insisted Australian military personnel always held themselves to the highest standards.

“We do send people into harm’s way. We also send people into harm’s way in a context, and we send people holding the highest values of our nation,” the Acting Prime Minister said.

“I spend a lot of time with Australian serving men and women. They have an enormous pride about the uniform they wear, but the way in which they engage in their actions and they expect the highest standard to be undertaken by those around them as well.”

“I think it’s really important to, you know, allow this process now to play out. I mean, the body of work which was undertaken by Justice Brereton did unearth very, very concerning issues and it is appropriate that we are holding ourselves to account.

“And when I speak to serving men and women, the fact that this has happened and makes it clear that we have one of the most ethical and highest standard defence forces in the world is a matter for them of pride,” Mr Marles added.