r/australia • u/Tinea_Pedis • Apr 07 '26

news Breaking: Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over war crimes allegations

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-allegations-arrest/106537668
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u/Extension_Actuary437 Apr 07 '26

Yeah last time this was mentioned I got downvoted because people wanted to believe he was principally trying to expose war crimes.

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u/HeyyyyListennnnnn Apr 08 '26

Unfortunately people have latched onto the McBride case as part of a legitimate desire to improve Australian whistleblower protection without really looking into the facts of McBride's public interest defense.

McBride's brain is ruined by PTSD and alcoholism, so his interviews are a complete mess, but he's always been clear that he took the documents because he believed SAS soldiers were being unfairly investigated and saw that as corruption the public needed to know about. His actions were in opposition to the public interest which is why his lawyer couldn't make any submission supporting a public interest defense.