Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation lawsuit against Nine newspapers kicks off on Monday. With a highly decorated war veteran facing off against a leading investigative journalist, can anyone really win?
With Christian Porter dumping his case against the ABC, there’s now only one blockbuster defamation action in town. Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawsuit against the Nine newspapers kicks off in the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday, and the stakes could not be higher.
On one side of the courtroom is Australia’s most decorated living veteran, a Victoria Cross recipient who has the support of one of Australia’s richest men, billionaire owner of Seven West Media Kerry Stokes. On the other is one of Australia’s leading investigative journalists, Nine’s Nick McKenzie, whose reporting on war crimes in Afghanistan has been corroborated not only by the work of other journalists but by an official inquiry by the inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force.
Amid the spectacle and drama leading up to the trial, it’s easy to forget exactly why Roberts-Smith is suing and what he has been accused of.
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