Beer, wine and Cheezels in Nine’s conference room after Ben Roberts-Smith decision
Nine Newspapers staffers spent Thursday night toasting their court win over Ben Roberts-Smith with beer, wine and a box of Cheezels in the company conference room, while veteran journalist Chris Masters said there were “no winners” and “still a lot to do”.
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Nine’s lawyers and journalists spent Thursday night celebrating their Federal Court win over Ben Roberts-Smith with beer, wine and a box of Cheezels in the company conference room.
Within minutes of Justice Anthony Besanko handing down a dominant decision in favour of Nine Newspapers, a woman attached to the Nine camp was on the phone making an order for the celebration back at their North Sydney headquarters.
“Three cases of beer, half a dozen bottles of sauvignon blanc or rosé, half a dozen bottles of prosecco, and some Cheezels,” the woman was heard ordering, before telling a colleague they had booked the executive boardroom.
Some two hours earlier as the doors to Court 21B were unlocked and opened up, the debate among those walking into court was whether the decision by Ben Roberts-Smith to holiday in Bali instead of attending was a sign he sensed things would go badly for him.
Nine’s legal team admitted when they had discovered he was poolside in Bali, it had taken them from being “quietly” confident to “loudly” confident.
Mr Roberts-Smith’s team of lawyers from Mark O’Brien Legal insisted the soldier had “faced the cameras enough” and the plan had always been for him not to be there when Justice Anthony Besanko handed down his decision.
The sigh from Mr Roberts-Smith’s solicitor Monica Allen as she walked out of the lift and up the corridor towards Court 21B was an obvious sign of what everyone was feeling — nerves.
Before entering the room Ms Allen, her colleague Paul Svilans and the Principal of their legal firm Mark O’Brien had joined with high-profile barrister Arthur Moses SC to speak with Channel 7 fixer and Kerry Stokes’ right-hand man Bruce McWilliam.
“Mark, Bruce is in there if you want to speak to him,” Mr Moses told Mr O’Brien.
Who knows what they spoke about in the small meeting room.
When they eventually emerged and walked into the courtroom, Ms Allen took her seat in the back row of the bar table alongside Mr Svilans, Mr O’Brien — who was at one stage in the Sydney Morning Herald’s live blog confused for Mr Roberts-Smith’s father Len — and finally Mr McWilliam.
In front of them sat Mr Moses, the partner of former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
At the other end of the bar table, also in the back row, sat Nick McKenzie and next to him Chris Masters, the two men who had authored the articles at the centre of the defamation case.
They too had been in and out of meeting rooms before Justice Besanko took to the bench and embraced as the defamation proceedings brought by Mr Roberts-Smith were dismissed.
Outside court afterwards, Mr Masters told The Daily Telegraph he had not shared the confidence of some in his legal team when they walked in.
“I was very worried, I was very worried,” Mr Masters said. “I didn’t know, you know. The lid has been on this for quite some time. We had no clue, not at all.
“It took a long time for the judge and that made me think that it was given considerable consideration.”
Mr Masters’ family had been in court to support him throughout the judgment, which came at the end of a long five years.
“Oh, well, it’s been difficult, you know, waking up every day with a defamation (case) over your head, it can be morally exhausting,” he said.
“I didn’t know until now how this would go. So it has been extremely difficult but I think good journalism is difficult.
“You often feel like there are no winners in defamation matters, I’ve been through quite a few and so there are a lot of mixed feelings, but I feel a lot better than I might have if we had lost.”
When asked what was in store for the night, Mr Masters was keeping a lid on it — especially in comparison to those in charge of the alcohol order.
“(I don’t think) anybody comes out of a matter like this feeling exalted and triumphant,” he said.
“I’m just going to meet the lawyers now, it’s not over you know, we’ve still got a lot to do.”
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