The parlous physical and mental health of David McBride and disturbing revelations about conditions at the Alexander Maconochie Centre prison in Canberra are a national disgrace.

Yet the only media outlet to cover this story is the free Canberra newspaper, City News.

When I asked two editors of national newspapers why they won’t investigate McBride’s current situation, they both responded – McBride pleaded guilty.

We need to be reminded, that, at his trial, McBride’s lawyers planned a public interest defence.

When Judge David Mossop ruled that there can be no public interest defence in regard to Australian Defence Forces personnel, McBride had no other option than to plead guilty.

Readers might find it strange, if not repugnant, that in 2024 the legal duty of our defence forces is to the British monarch and not to the Australian people!

This week I received disturbing revelations about prisoner mistreatment at the AMC. Parents of a son incarcerated with McBride wrote “While conditions in the prison may look fine on paper, many are currently not being adhered to.” Both are willing to talk to the media, if their revelations do not cause their son to be targeted. For that reason, I have not included their names or addresses.

They forwarded this statement from their son. “Although AMC is a prison in a jurisdiction with human rights legislation, there is no mechanism in place to ensure that the policies and practices of the prison are actually compliant with human rights. This results in conditions that directly contrast the protections that have been enshrined in human rights instruments to protect those deprived of their liberty from abuse.

“In AMC,........

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