The shocking story of the case against Australia's most highly decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG, and the defamation trial of the century.
With a Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry, Ben Roberts-Smith was the most highly decorated Australian soldier, the best of the best. When he returned to civilian life, he became a poster boy for a nation hungry for warrior heroes. He embodied the myth of the classic Anzac, seven-foot-tall and bulletproof. But as his public reputation continued to grow, inside the army rumours were circulating.
Gold Walkley Award winning journalist Chris Masters was the first to investigate the rumours of summary executions, bloodings and bullying, and began to examine more closely the man we wanted to hero-worship. When the stories hit the headlines, and with a billionaire media baron's backing, Ben Roberts-Smith sued. So commenced the defamation trial of the century, a courtroom contest of tightrope tactics and fierce wit.
Join us as Chris Masters tells the extraordinary story of Ben Roberts-Smith, the man at the centre of this de facto war crimes trial, from the battlegrounds of Afghanistan to the front lines of the Federal Court.
Tickets: $10 (Entry only) // $40 (includes a discounted copy of the book RRP $34.99)
Chris Masters PSM is a powerful force in Australian journalism. A multi Walkley Award winner, his reports 'The Big League' and 'The Moonlight State' both led to royal commissions that helped transform the nation. He spent extended periods with Australian forces in Afghanistan, and he is the author of the bestselling Jonestown, Uncommon Soldier and No Front Line.
Karen Middleton is Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper, and author of An Unwinnable War – Australia in Afghanistan on the political backstory to Australia’s role in the war, and a biography of the now prime minister Anthony Albanese, Albanese – Telling it Straight. A regular contributor to ABC radio, ABC TV’s Insiders and The Drum, the Nine Network’s Weekend Today and Network Ten’s The Project, she is a correspondent for Radio New Zealand, Monocle24 radio London and Turkey’s international TV network TRT World. She is a former Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery president and a Churchill fellow. In 2020, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.