In 2018, our newspapers published a story titled ‘SAS soldier accused of killing innocent villager'. It was the first of many articles, which eventually identified Australia’s most decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, and accused him of multiple murders of unarmed civilians. 

Roberts-Smith proceeded to sue our newspapers - in what’s become known as the defamation trial of the century. It went for more than 100 days, and examined more than 40 witnesses. And on Thursday, a judgement was finally delivered. 

Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko ruled overwhelmingly for our newspapers, finding Roberts-Smith was, on the balance of probabilities, a murderer, a war criminal, a bully, a liar, and a disgrace to his country and the Australian military. 

Today, the journalists who broke these stories, Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters, join Tory Maguire to discuss what it took to win the biggest defamation case in Australia’s history - and what this victory means for journalism.

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