David McBride (whistleblower)

Last updated

David McBride
Born (1963-12-15) December 15, 1963 (age 60)
Nationality Australian
Alma mater
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in) [1]
Political party
Spouse
Sarah Green
​
(until 2016)​
Parents
Military career
Allegiance
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
Service/branch
Years of service1980s–1990s
2002/03–2017
Unit Blues and Royals [lower-alpha 1]
Battles/wars Operation Banner
War in Afghanistan [lower-alpha 2]
Website davidmcbride.com.au

David William McBride (born 15 December 1963 [2] ) is an Australian whistleblower and former British Army major and Australian Army lawyer. McBride provided the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with documents that contained information about war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. [3]

Contents

In 2018, McBride was charged with several offences related to unlawfully disclosing Commonwealth documents. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to the charges. During the case, it was revealed McBride leaked information to the press after concerns about the Australian Defence Force's excessive investigation of special forces soldiers. [4]

Early life

McBride was born in 1963 to William McBride, an obstetrician in Sydney, and Patricia McBride (née Glover), also a doctor. [5] [1] [6] He has two sisters, Catherine and Louise, and one brother, John. [7] [1]

He graduated in law at the Sydney University and then obtained a scholarship to take a second degree in the same subject at Oxford University. [1]

Career

McBride joined the British Army and served in Germany before training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and then commanding a Blues and Royals platoon in Northern Ireland. [1] He left the army after failing to complete the entry requirements for the Special Air Service. [1]

After a period in civilian life, including security work in Rwanda and Zaire, a stint as a "tracker" on the 1990s British reality-style television game show, Wanted , [1] as security adviser to the series Journeys to the Ends of the Earth , and an unsuccessful 2003 attempt to win a New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat representing Coogee, for the Liberal Party, [8] [9] he enlisted in the Australian Army as a lawyer. [1]

McBride twice deployed to Afghanistan, in 2011 and 2013. [3] [1] He was medically discharged with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2017. [1]

In 2023, McBride published his memoir The Nature of Honour. [10]

Leak of military documents

In 2016, McBride leaked classified military documents to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. [1] McBride had become dissatisfied with military leadership and increased scrutiny of soldiers. [1] [11] The ABC found evidence of war crimes and published the information in their 2017 publication The Afghan Files. [12] [13] McBride was allegedly unhappy with the ABC's reporting of his documents. [11] [14]

In September 2018, McBride was arrested at Sydney Airport [11] and charged with the theft of Commonwealth property contrary to s 131(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995; in March 2019 he was charged with a further four offences: three of breaching s 73A(1) of the Defence Act 1903; and another of "unlawfully disclosing a Commonwealth document contrary to s 70(1) of the Crimes Act 1914". [15] [16] [17] [18] [5] McBride pleaded not guilty to each of the charges at a 30 May 2019 preliminary hearing. [15] [19] His legal team includes Nick Xenophon and Mark Davis. [3] [20]

In October 2022, it was reported that the case against McBride would proceed to trial. McBride and his lawyers had tried to get the prosecution dropped by applying for protection under Australia's whistleblower laws. This application relied on expert testimony of 2 witnesses. However, the Australian Government moved to quash this testimony (prevent it from being heard) on national security grounds. Consequently McBride and his team dropped the application to stop the trial. [21]

During McBride's 2023 legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, McBride's lawyers told the court that he had leaked information in an attempt to bring awareness to excessive investigation of soldiers. [4] Justice David Mossop stated "the way you’ve explained it is that the higher-ups might have been acting illegally by investigating these people too much, and that that was the source of the illegality that was being exposed." [22]

McBride pleaded guilty on 17 November 2023. [23] The plea came after Justice Mossop ruled that he would instruct the incoming jury that McBride was not bound to act in the public interest under his oath of service [24] and the government were allowed to claim public-interest immunity for documents McBride's defence team sought to use. [25] No appeal was allowed for either decision, with sentencing set for 2024. [24]

Personal life

McBride has two daughters from a former marriage, to Sarah (née Green). The couple separated in 2016. [1]

A portrait of McBride, titled The Whistleblower, by Kate Stevens won the 2023 Portia Geach Memorial Award. [26]

In 2023, Crikey named McBride their Person of the Year. [27]

Notes

  1. ↑ With the British Army
  2. ↑ With the Australian Army

Related Research Articles

<i>Four Corners</i> (Australian TV program) Australian documentary television program

Four Corners is an Australian investigative journalism/current affairs documentary television program. Broadcast on ABC TV, it premiered on 19 August 1961 and is the longest-running Australian television program in history. The program is one of only five in Australia inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Hicks</span> Australian who trained with Al-Qaeda and was later detained at Guantanamo Bay

David Matthew Hicks is an Australian who attended al-Qaeda's Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan, and met with Osama bin Laden during 2001. He was then detained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay detention camp from 2002 until 2007.

William Griffith McBride was an Australian obstetrician. He published a letter on the teratogenicity of thalidomide following the findings of a midwife named Pat Sparrow, which resulted in the reduction of the number of drugs prescribed during pregnancy. Later in his life, McBride was involved in several trials with the pharma industry blaming him medical malpractice and scientific fraud for falsifying data in a paper that claimed that the drug Debendox was also responsible for birth defects.

Edward Moses Obeid is a retired Australian politician and convicted criminal, who served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1991 and 2011, representing the Labor Party. He was the Minister for Fisheries and the Minister for Mineral Resources from 1999–2003. Prior to the March 2015 expiry of his term in the Legislative Council, Obeid announced his decision to retire early on 10 May 2011, citing family reasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle</span> Latin Catholic diocese in Australia

The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is a suffragan Latin Church diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1847 initially as the Diocese of Maitland and changed to the current name in 1995. The diocese covers the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales in Australia. The bishop of the diocese is Michael Kennedy

Catholic sexual abuse cases in Australia, like Catholic Church sexual abuse cases elsewhere, have involved convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests, members of religious orders and other personnel which have come to light in recent decades, along with the growing awareness of sexual abuse within other religious and secular institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Assange</span> Australian editor, publisher, and activist, founder of WikiLeaks (born 1971)

Julian Paul Assange is an Australian editor, publisher and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to wide international attention in 2010 when WikiLeaks published a series of leaks from US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning: footage of a US airstrike in Baghdad, US military logs from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and US diplomatic cables. Assange has won multiple awards for publishing and journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Collaery</span>

Bernard Joseph Edward Collaery is an Australian barrister, lawyer and former politician. Collaery was a member of the Australian Capital Territory's first Legislative Assembly for the Residents Rally party, from 1989 to 1992. He served as Deputy Chief Minister and Attorney-General from 1989 to 1991 in the Kaine Alliance Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Roberts-Smith</span> Australian former soldier and war criminal (born 1978)

Benjamin Roberts-Smith is an Australian former soldier. In 2023, a civil defamation trial initiated by Roberts-Smith in the Federal Court of Australia found that he committed war crimes in Afghanistan during 2009, 2010 and 2012. An appeal to a Full Court, comprising three judges, of the Federal Court, commenced on 5 February 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Barilaro</span> Australian politician

Giovanni Domenic "John" Barilaro is an Australian former politician who served as the 18th deputy premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the National Party from 2016 to 2021. He was the Minister for Regional New South Wales, Industry and Trade in the second Berejiklian ministry from April 2019, and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electoral district of Monaro since 2011 until his resignation in October 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia–East Timor spying scandal</span> 2004 bugging of East Timor PMs office

The Australia–East Timor spying scandal began in 2004 when the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) clandestinely planted covert listening devices in a room adjacent to the East Timor (Timor-Leste) Prime Minister's Office at Dili, to obtain information in order to ensure Australia held the upper hand in negotiations with East Timor over the rich oil and gas fields in the Timor Gap. Even though the East Timor government was unaware of the espionage operation undertaken by Australia, negotiations were hostile. The first Prime Minister of East Timor, Mari Alkatiri, bluntly accused the Howard government of plundering the oil and gas in the Timor Sea, stating:

"Timor-Leste loses $1 million a day due to Australia's unlawful exploitation of resources in the disputed area. Timor-Leste cannot be deprived of its rights or territory because of a crime."

Nick McKenzie is an Australian investigative journalist. He has won 14 Walkley Awards, been twice named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year and also received the Kennedy Award for Journalist of the Year in 2020 and 2022. He is the president of the Melbourne Press Club.

Lynette Joy Dawson was an Australian woman who disappeared on or about 8 January 1982, leaving two daughters and her husband, former rugby league footballer Chris Dawson. Her whereabouts are unknown, but two coronial inquests found that she had been murdered. On 30 August 2022, Chris Dawson was convicted of Lynette's murder and sentenced to 24 years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adele Ferguson</span> Australian investigative journalist

Adele Ferguson is an Australian investigative journalist, best known for her series of exposés of malfeasance in the franchising, aged care, and financial services sectors in Australia which have resulted in major inquiries including the Hayne Royal Commission.

The Afghan Files are a set of Australian Defence Force documents about the operation of Australia's special forces in Afghanistan. The documents were leaked to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) by David McBride, upon and seven stories were ultimately published as a result. The documents covered a wide range of topics, however most notably it detailed multiple cases of possible unlawful killings of unarmed men and children. In response to the leak, the Australian Federal Police raided the ABC's offices in June 2019, confiscating all material related to the matter.

Witness J, also known by the pseudonyms Alan Johns and Prisoner 123458, is a former officer of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) who was subject to a secret trial, and secret imprisonment in 2018, for supposedly breaching Australian national security laws. His case came to light following an Australian Federal Police raid of his jail cell seeking a memoir that he had previously received official permission to write about his experiences. This led to him bringing a claim for breach of his human rights. This claim was ultimately unsuccessful, but brought the case to light with the public.

friendlyjordies Australian YouTuber

Jordan Shanks-Markovina, also known online as friendlyjordies, is an Australian political commentator, journalist, stand-up comedian and YouTuber. His content often discusses contemporary Australian cultural and political issues, involving self-described "lowbrow humour." Shanks' YouTube channel, created in February 2013, has over one million subscribers as of March 2024. He has interviewed several politicians, including Jodi McKay, Tanya Plibersek, Kristina Keneally, Bill Shorten, Helen Dalton, and former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brereton Report</span> Australian war crimes investigation and report

The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report, commonly known as the Brereton Report, is a report into war crimes committed by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) during the War in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. The investigation was led by Paul Brereton, who is both a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and a major general in the army reserve. The independent commission was initiated by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force in 2016, and after a long investigation, delivered its final report on 6 November 2020. The redacted version was released publicly on 19 November 2020.

War crimes in Afghanistan covers the period of conflict from 1979 to the present. Starting with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, 40 years of civil war in various forms has wracked Afghanistan. War crimes have been committed by all sides.

Troy Stolz is an Australian whistleblower and gambling reform advocate. He was the head of ClubsNSW's anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism unit, until 2019. He leaked an internal report that stated that 95% of registered clubs in New South Wales were non-compliant with anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism laws. The report was leaked to MP Andrew Wilkie and members of the press.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Wroe, David (22 June 2019). "'What I've done makes sense to me': The complicated, colourful life of David McBride". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  2. ↑ McBride, David (November 2023). The Nature of Honour. Viking Press. pp. 30, 206. ISBN   9781760897994.
  3. 1 2 3 Xenophon, Nick (17 November 2020). "If moral courage matters, this whistleblower needs defending". The Age. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 Byrne, Elizabeth (November 2023). "David McBride came back to Australia for a father and daughter dance. It set in motion years of legal woes". ABC.
  5. 1 2 Knaus, Christopher (7 March 2019). "Whistleblower charged with exposing alleged military misconduct 'not afraid to go to jail'". The Guardian .
  6. ↑ Wallace, Chris (18 November 2023). "David McBride's whistleblower defence crashes". The Saturday Paper. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Doctor who alerted the world to the dangers of thalidomide". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  8. ↑ Green, Antony. "2003 Coogee". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "Former soldier sets his sights on Labor seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 July 2002. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  10. ↑ McBride, David (November 2023). "'The leadership rewarded and encouraged dishonesty'". Australian Financial Review.
  11. 1 2 3 Masters, Chris (2023). Flawed Hero. Allen & Unwin. p. 107. ISBN   9781761069819.
  12. ↑ Murphy, Katharine (19 November 2020). "We knew the war crimes inquiry would be bad – but this is gut-wrenching and nauseating". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  13. ↑ Visontay, Elias; Knaus, Christopher (6 November 2020). "Inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan delivers final report". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  14. ↑ O'Mallon, Finbar (October 2019). "Judge's warning for defence whistleblower". The Canberra Times . "According to the documents, McBride was unhappy with the angle Mr Oakes had pursued, believing it wasn't consistent with the complaints he made, and the two stopped talking before the story was published."
  15. 1 2 "ABC Alumni Limited Submission to Senate Standing committee On Environment and Communications' References Committee: Inquiry into the adequacy of Commonwealth laws and frameworks covering the disclosure and reporting of sensitive and classified information". 29 August 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Afghan Files whistleblower David McBride's trial delayed to protect state secrets". The Guardian. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Burgess, Katie (9 November 2020). "Afghanistan inquiry: Calls to drop prosecution of whistleblower David McBride". The Canberra Times . Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Burgess, Katie (19 November 2020). "The Afghanistan inquiry: what we know so far". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Maiden, Samantha (5 June 2019). "Whistleblower behind ABC raid stands by Afghan leaks". The New Daily. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  20. ↑ Burgess, Katie (19 November 2020). "Afghanistan inquiry: Calls to drop prosecution of whistleblower David McBride". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  21. ↑ "David McBride will face prosecution after blowing whistle on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan". The Guardian. 27 October 2022.
  22. ↑ Thompson, Angus (November 2023). "Blindly obeying orders 'ignores Nuremberg': Whistleblower's lawyer". Sydney Morning Herald.
  23. ↑ Knaus, Christopher; Basford Canales, Sarah (November 2023). "Whistleblower David McBride pleads guilty after court rules to withhold evidence over 'security' risk". The Guardian.
  24. 1 2 Byrne, Elizabeth; Mannheim, Markus (17 November 2023). "Military lawyer David McBride pleads guilty to unlawfully sharing secret allegations of Australian war crimes". ABC.
  25. ↑ Thompson, Angus (November 2023). "Commonwealth argues against handing more intel to whistleblower as trial delayed". ABC.
  26. ↑ McDonald, John (22 November 2023). "War, wildlife and weirdness dominate this women's art prize". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  27. ↑ Lewis, Charles (21 December 2023). "Crikey's Person of the Year for 2023 is…". Crikey .

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.