Journalist Nick McKenzie admits to ‘deceptive methods’ if in the public interest during Ben Roberts-Smith bid for appeal

Ben Roberts-Smith is pushing to reopen his appeal against the judge’s 2023 finding that he had been complicit in the murder of four unarmed civilians while deployed in Afghanistan. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Investigative journalist Nick McKenzie has agreed in Ben Roberts-Smith’s bid to reopen his appeal for his defamation case that he has used “deceptive methods and subterfuge” to obtain information “on occasion if it is in the public interest”.

McKenzie was cross-examined on Thursday afternoon by Roberts-Smith’s lawyer, Arthur Moses SC. It’s part of a two-day hearing in which the war veteran is arguing the appeal should be reopened in light of new evidence that he claims shows there was a “miscarriage of justice” in the defamation proceedings caused by McKenzie’s alleged “misconduct”.