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.

Beazley – a former Labor leader, defence minister and ambassador to Washington – said he was not present at a meeting of the memorial’s governing council when the issue was discussed, but his input was sought.

“That view was reaffirmed by the council at its last meeting,” the former Labor leader and defence minister said.

Guardian Australia revealed last week the memorial had

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