David William McBride (born 1963 or 1964) is an Australian

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

and former

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

major and

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

lawyer. From 2014 to 2016 McBride provided the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

with

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

about war crimes allegedly committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. The ABC broadcast details in 2017. In 2018, he was charged with several offences related to his whistleblowing, and is awaiting trial. The war crime allegations were reviewed in the

Brereton Report The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report, commonly known as the Brereton Report (after the investigation head), is a report into war crimes allegedly committed by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) during ...

Early life

McBride was born in 1963 or 1964 to William McBride, an obstetrician in Sydney. He has three siblings. He graduated in law at the

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

and then obtained a scholarship to take a second degree in the same subject at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Career

McBride joined the

and served in Germany before training at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

and then commanding a

Blues and Royals The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) (RHG/D) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment. The Colonel of the Regiment is Anne, Princess Royal. It is the second-most senior regiment in ...

platoon in Northern Ireland. He left the army after failing to complete the entry requirements for the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

. After a period in civilian life, including security work in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, a stint as a "tracker" on the 1990s British reality-style television game show, '' Wanted'', as security adviser to the series '' Journeys to the Ends of the Earth'', and an unsuccessful 2003 attempt to win a

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

seat representing Coogee, for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, he enlisted in the

as a lawyer. He then served two tours of duty in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2013, for which he received a combat services medal. He was medically discharged with

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

in 2017.

Leak of alleged war crimes

McBride made internal allegations of war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan, then subsequently supplied classified information about these allegations to the

. An investigation by Major General Justice

Paul Brereton Major General Paul Le Gay Brereton, (born 27 August 1957) is a Judge of the New South Wales Court of Appeal and a senior officer in the Australian Army Reserve. He commanded the 5th Brigade from 2008 to 2010 and Head of the Cadet, Reserve and ...

, which began in May 2016 and whose results were made public in November 2020, found "credible information" that war crimes were committed by Australians. In September 2018, McBride was charged with the theft of Commonwealth property contrary to s 131(1) of the

Criminal Code Act 1995 The criminal law of Australia is the body of law in Australia that relates to crime. Responsibility for criminal law in Australia is divided between the state and territory parliaments and the Commonwealth Parliament. This division is due to t ...

; in March 2019 he was charged with a further four offences: three of breaching s 73A(1) of the

Defence Act 1903 The ''Defence Act 1903'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, that acquired royal assent on 22 October 1903. It was created to allow for the naval and military defence of Australia. The Act was amended and expande ...

; and another of "unlawfully disclosing a Commonwealth document contrary to s 70(1) of the

Crimes Act 1914 The ''Crimes Act 1914'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which addresses the most serious federal offences — that is, crimes against the Commonwealth. It was the first major federal criminal law since the Federation of Australi ...

". McBride pleaded not guilty to each of the charges at a 30 May 2019 preliminary hearing and is awaiting trial. His legal team includes

Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...

and Mark Davis. In October 2022, it was reported that the case against McBride would proceed to trial. McBride and his lawyers had tried to get the prosecution dropped by applying for protection under Australia's whistleblower laws. This application relied on expert testimony of 2 witnesses. However, the Government moved to quash this testimony (prevent it from being heard) on national security grounds. As such, McBride and his team dropped the application, and the trial would go ahead.

Personal life

McBride has two daughters from a former marriage, to Sarah (née Green). The couple separated in 2016.

Notes

References

External links

*
Federal Court charging record
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, David 21st-century Australian lawyers Australian whistleblowers War crimes in Afghanistan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian Army officers 1960s births University of Sydney alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford 20th-century British Army personnel Blues and Royals officers Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Australian television presenters People with post-traumatic stress disorder Liberal Party of Australia politicians