Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, will urge the Federal Government to drop all charges against Afghanistan whistleblower and former military lawyer David McBride. Mr Wilkie will seek to introduce a motion in the House of Representatives outlining Mr McBride’s brave actions and calling on the Government to drop the charges.
Mr Wilkie said that without Mr McBride Australians may never have learned of the shocking war crimes allegedly committed by our special forces in Afghanistan.
“He should be praised, but instead he is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in jail,” Mr Wilkie said.
“If Mr McBride never disclosed this information to the ABC, which formed the basis of the Afghan Files, we never would have had the Afghanistan Inquiry Report, revealing alleged war crimes committed by ADF members.
“The Government’s hand-wringing when publicising the Afghanistan Inquiry this month was hypocrisy on steroids. They’re the very same people condemning the whistle-blowers, lawyers and journalists revealing official misconduct, for example Mr McBride, Julian Assange, Witness K & Bernard Collaery, ADF lawyers and the ABC.
“The Federal Government must stop going after whistle-blowers who risk everything to reveal what happens in dark corners. It must drop all charges against Mr McBride.”