Nine paid Ben Roberts-Smith case witness $700,000 hush money to protect company's star journalist Nick McKenzie
Sky News Australia can reveal that Nine paid its own witness $700,000 hush money and asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement to cover up the conduct of one of the company's star journalists in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case.
Nine paid a key witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case $700,000 in hush money to stop her from going public with allegations of misbehaviour against its star journalist Nick McKenzie. Nine's own witness in the Ben Roberts-Smith case, who they claimed was a domestic violence victim, sent explosive emails to Nine threatening to tell the court that the media company had unlawfully obtained his privileged legal strategy. She said she had an audio recording of McKenzie, and other evidence, as proof. In response, Nine paid the witness, known as Person 17, $700,000 under an agreement with a confidentiality clause, right before the Victoria Cross recipient's appeal against the network commenced. It prevented the damning allegations from being heard as part of the appeal. The email from the woman, who claimed she'd had an affair with Roberts-Smith, was sent to Nine executive Tory Maguire and executive counsel Larina Alick in May 2023. In the email, dated May 12th 2023, the witness wrote: 'There is a mountain of evidence of Nick… telling me what these women were supposedly saying prior to giving evidence, which does not align with what Emma has now said on oath. 'How do you explain that? 'I also know these women were passing on confidential & privileged information to Nick as far back as mid-late 2020. 'What are you going to do, when all of that comes out to the judge?' She also claimed there had been a 'behind the scenes corrupting of the process.' 'If you have to lie & cheat to win, then you shouldn't be playing the game at all.' Sky News has also obtained the unfiled statement of claim made by Person 17 which also includes the allegation that McKenzie had obtained Roberts-Smith's privileged legal strategy. 'By some time prior to 24 April 2021, the respondents had gained unauthorised access to material over which BRS had a claim of legal professional privilege,' it states. "On 24 April 2021, the respondents fixed a prospective witness in the Defamation Proceeding (namely, P17) with knowledge of that unauthorised access.' Sources told Sky News that Nine paid the witness, known as Person 17, more than $700,000 and asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement, buying her silence. But after Sky News broadcast the audio recording in March, 2025, Nine demanded that Person 17 repay the $700,000 hush money and threatened to sue her - despite the fact she was Nine's own witness who they claim was a victim of domestic violence. The letter from Ms Alick accused Person 17, without proof, of leaking the audio recording to Roberts-Smith and Sky News. 'The Nine Group request that your client refund the Settlement Sum in full within 14 days,' it states. 'If payment is not received by Monday, 7 April 2025 the Nine Group will commence legal proceedings against your client for payment of the debt under contract law.' Person 17 sent a return legal letter rejecting the allegations Nine made and denying that she had leaked the audio recording. Roberts-Smith sued Nine for defamation after they accused him of war crimes during his deployments in Afghanistan. He lost the long-running, costly defamation action and then lodged an appeal in the Federal Court. The court heard on Friday that McKenzie was aware the woman had previously raised concerns with him about providing Robert-Smith's legal strategy but In his evidence to the court on Friday, McKenzie denied knowledge of legal correspondence between Nine and Person 17. He also in his evidence claimed that none of the information provided by Roberts-Smith's ex-wife Emma Roberts and/or her friend, Danielle Scott, constituted privileged information. Nine has stood by McKenzie's journalism, claiming there has been no breach of ethics or legal privilege. The audio recording captured a conversation from early 2021 between McKenzie and Person 17. In the recording, McKenzie claims Emma and Danielle had been 'actively briefing us on his legal strategy in respect of you … we anticipated most of it. One or two things now we know.' During the defamation trial against Nine, Roberts-Smith launched separate legal action accusing his ex-wife of accessing an email account he used for confidential legal correspondence. He claimed information that only originated in the email account had found its way to Nine and that it had the potential to contaminate the trial. Roberts-Smith's lawyers argued the account had been accessed at least 101 times, including by Danielle Scott. Emma later admitted that she had allowed her close friend, Danielle, to access her ex-husband's email accounts, but only in relation to their marriage breakdown. The judge, Justice Robert Bromwich, dismissed the legal challenge from Roberts-Smith that his emails were accessed, saying his case was circumstantial and based on suspicions. After Sky News broadcast the audio recording, in which McKenzie claimed to have breached his ethics, Nine admitted the emails had also been accessed in relation to Person 17 - but claimed the information was not legally privileged.
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