Attempt to Overturn Australian SLAPP Ruling Fails

Photo: David McBride

A Victory Lap for Blueprint Prize-winner David McBride

After seven years of legal warfare, the curtain has finally closed on one of Australia’s most consequential defamation battles. The High Court has rejected Ben Roberts-Smith’s final appeal attempt, cementing the major 2023 ruling: the decorated war veteran is, in legal terms, a war criminal, a murderer, and a bully.

David McBride, a former military lawyer who was awarded a Blueprint International Whistleblowing Prize in 2022, was instrumental in bringing the truth about Australian Special Forces conduct in Afghanistan to light. While many witnesses understandable remained anonymous, McBride chose to go public, risking his career and freedom to expose what he believed were war crimes and systemic failures. In 2024 he was convicted of charges of theft and unauthorized disclosure of government information and sentenced to over five years in prison.

McBride’s disclosures laid the groundwork for the reporting that followed. Without McBride’s moral clarity and willingness to speak out, the public might never have known the full extent of what Australian Special Forces' human rights abuses in Afghanistan.

The High Court’s dismissal of Roberts-Smith’s appeal was unequivocal. It found no legal principle worth debating and declared the proposed appeal had “insufficient prospects of success.” With that, Roberts-Smith’s last legal manoeuvre is over.

Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are designed to silence dissent and intimidate truth-tellers. This case was a textbook example—and its failure sends a powerful message: truth can prevail, even against those with a powerful public profie.