War hero to war criminal, Nick Mckenzie reflects on exposing Ben Roberts-Smith
Australian True Crime
Bravecasting
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 June 2023
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 2018, Ben Roberts-Smith, a decorated Australian war veteran who had won the Victoria Cross for his actions in Afghanistan, sued The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times.
The above newspapers had alleged that Roberts-Smith committed acts of war crimes, bullying and domestic violence.
The civil trial ended in July 2022 after 110 days of evidence and legal submissions. It was dubbed one of the largest and most important defamation cases in Australian history.
On June 1st, 2023, Justice Anthony Besanko dismissed Roberts-Smith's case against the media outlets, finding that most of the allegations against him were substantially true.
Nick Mckenzie, one of the three journalists directly named in the defamation case, joins us on this episode to reflect on the last five years.
More info:
Nick Mckenzie has an upcoming book that details what went on behind the scenes of this incredible story. It is titled Crossing The Line, and can be preordered here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We're bringing Australian True Crime live to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this July, |
| 0:04.3 | and I have to tell you that Brisbane sold out already. |
| 0:07.4 | Good for you, Brisbane, so we've quickly added a second show. |
| 0:10.3 | Now we can't keep adding more shows, so please make sure you get your tickets. Our special guests, |
| 0:15.2 | our forensic criminologist Santee Mallet in Brisbane and Sydney and the one and only Charlie Bazzina in |
| 0:19.9 | Melbourne. There'll be a Q&A of course so you can ask your own burning questions on the night but you have to book quickly. |
| 0:26.0 | This is a true crime podcast as the title suggests. |
| 0:29.0 | So please consider this your warning that it's not suitable for children and it probably will |
| 0:33.8 | contain content that may be triggering to some people. Also it's an Australian |
| 0:38.3 | true crime podcast so Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander |
| 0:41.9 | listeners should be aware it may contain the voices of deceased people. |
| 0:47.0 | The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. |
| 0:58.0 | They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging. |
| 1:07.0 | I'd just like to say today is a day of justice. |
| 1:11.0 | It's a day of justice for those brave men of the SAS who stood up and told the truth |
| 1:16.5 | about who Ben Robert Smith is, a war criminal, a bully and a liar. |
| 1:21.6 | Today is a day of some small justice for the Afghan victims of Ben |
| 1:26.0 | Robert Smith. I think it was a great call back in June 2018 to run that story. I think it will go down in the history of the news business as one of the great |
| 1:37.1 | calls |
| 1:48.0 | That's Nick McKinenzie and Chris Masters, speaking on the steps of the federal court last week. Just moments earlier, Justice Anthony Bazenko dismissed the defamation case brought against |
| 1:52.3 | them and the news outlets that ran their stories |
| 1:55.0 | about former SAS soldier Ben Roberts Smith. The case was dismissed because Justice Bozenko found |
... |
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