How does one prepare for the possibility of going to jail for telling the truth?
The fact is that it’s not truth-telling that David McBride is being charged with, it’s which truth, and to whom it was told. McBride bit the hand that fed him and now is being charged with telling truths that are deemed to be damaging to national security. He did this by giving journalists information.
David McBride’s vocation has always been the Defence Force. He pursued an education in the law to further his career in defence; but on November 13 the Defence Force, and the law, plan to turn around and bite him back – very hard.
McBride joined the Australian Defence Force in 2005 after gaining law degrees from both Sydney and Oxford universities and doing a stint in the British army.
What he saw in the Australian Army when he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013 was enough to compel him to make allegations of war crimes committed by Australian forces. Then in 2017 he supplied classified information about the allegations to the ABC – he’s a whistleblower.
In 2018 and 2019 McBride had charges laid against him. Last year he and his lawyers tried to get the prosecution dropped by applying for protection under Australia’s whistleblower laws, with no luck.
When The Echo spoke to McBride last week he was biding his time, spending time with his daughters, pondering life behind bars and walking his dog Jake.
‘Jake’s a bit annoying. He wants to go for a walk every hour. But he’s such a good buddy to me,’ he told The Echo.
Put him away
McBride says the waiting game sees his stress levels go up and down. ‘I’m ready for it to be finalised. I know when I get in the courtroom, stress will be pretty high. No matter how much front and bravado you have outside the courtroom once you get inside and there’s a whole team of lawyers up against you in the quiet courtroom, it’s confronting.’
McBride agrees they are out for his blood. ‘They’re not there for any other reason but to put me in jail for a long time.’
McBride also agrees that they are probably pretty pissed off with him at the moment.
‘They would be getting more and more pissed off with me. They were so close to convicting me about four years ago, and now, since then, things keep going in my favour, so they would be getting more and more angry.’
McBride says the standout issue in his time with the Defence Force was the bendiness of the truth to suit a purpose.
‘They make heroes out of people who aren’t heroes and they make villains out of people who aren’t villains. This is how it all started.
‘I’d had enough when they were trying to railroad someone into jail. This was after Ben Roberts-Smith – my theory is that they heard about him (Roberts-Smith) and they thought, “Shit, everyone’s talking about it. We need to put someone in jail, but not him, because he’s so big, he’s our star player, and if he goes down, everyone’s gonna go down. Let’s find some schmuck, and demonise him”.
‘I was over there and I thought, hang on – we’ve got all these allegations of 30 murders the year before, and you didn’t do anything, and now you have this guy as “public enemy number one” and you’re trying to railroad him and he doesn’t even meet the parameters of an investigation?’
McBride says something had shifted. ‘I got more and more suspicious because I had questions about this guy – a man who didn’t meet the parameters for a charge, yet [they] were charging him. The only advice I got was basically “Shut up. It’s above your pay grade”. I’d had enough.’
It may sound like a spy film but this real life drama has seen McBride lose a lot of things including a marriage. The looming jail time makes it hard to plan ahead.
One would think that winning this case is McBride’s ultimate goal but he says his goal is to fix the problem, even if that means going to jail.
McBride says a great outcome for him would be to go back and work as a consultant with the Defence Force.
‘That is actually the best outcome. I really like the Defence Force, I like serving my country and I can see the problems that we have with public servants and soldiers when they’re trying to get ahead in their careers and therefore becoming “Yes” people.
‘[I’d like to help] work out how we can change the system slightly so it’s not so conducive to just covering up whatever the government wants; no matter how questionable it is.
‘In the defence force, it can’t be like that. I hope that we can help them get some safeguards where they feel a bit stronger to say “no minister”, if something really isn’t right.’
David McBride: Declassified
During the lead up to his trial McBride has participated in some documentaries and written a book which will be ready for the public the day he goes to court. He will also appear at a screening in Lismore next week.
The documentary David McBride: Declassified, directed by Paul Matereke and produced by Treason Flowers, will be screening at the Star Court Theatre on Thursday, October 12 at 6.30pm. It will be a double feature screening with Incident in Baghdad and a Q and A with McBride, John Shipton (Julian Assange’s father) and local lawyer Eddie Lloyd.
For more about McBride and to pre-order his book (which will help his case), visit: davidmcbride.com.au.
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