Nine paid a woman $700,000 in hush money to stop her going public with allegations against star reporter Nick McKenzie, in a deal the media company tried to keep secret for 50 years.
The extraordinary payment to one of Nine’s key witnesses against former war hero Ben Roberts-Smith came just a week before an appeal in his war crime defamation case was to be heard.
The witness, known only as Person 17, was paid the massive sum after sending a series of explosive emails to Nine executives claiming McKenzie had treated her poorly and wrongfully obtained parts of Mr Roberts-Smith’s legal strategy during the case.
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Nine had fought to keep the payment secret, but Federal Court judge Nye Perram ruled earlier this month to lift the suppression order from midnight Monday.
A secret recording of McKenzie speaking to Person 17 emerged last year, in which the renowned journalist can be heard claiming he had “breached my f…king ethics” and appears to concede that he had been “actively” briefed on Mr Roberts-Smith’s legal strategy during the defamation trial.
In her correspondence, Person 17, alleged by Nine to be a domestic violence survivor, had also begged McKenzie to protect her from harmful stories being published in the company’s newspapers, previously known as Fairfax.
When McKenzie assured her she would be protected, Person 17 asked how he could guarantee that, McKenzie allegedly replied: “I am Fairfax”.
In an email sent to Nine executive Tory Maguire and executive counsel Larina Alick, Person 17 claimed McKenzie admitted receiving confidential legal strategies from the Victoria Cross recipient’s ex-wife Emma Roberts and her friend Danielle Scott.
“I also know these women were passing on confidential and privileged information to Nick as far back as mid-late 2020,” the email says.
In the recording of the conversation between Person 17 and McKenzie, he is captured saying: “I shouldn’t tell you. I’ve just breached my f…ing ethics in doing that.”
McKenzie is heard saying she 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.”
Nine responded to the emails from Person 17 in which those recordings were referred to by paying the woman $700,000 to silence her in the lead-up to Mr Roberts-Smith’s appeal against the network.
After Sky News broadcast the secret recording conversation, Nine threatened to sue Person 17 — who had been in a relationship with Mr Roberts-Smith — and demanded she repay the $700,000.
The secret payout is covered in a deed dated 25 January 2025, signed by Ms Maguire and company secretary Rachel Launders as well as Nick and Lisa McKenzie.
In return for the $700,000 payment, the deed stipulates that Person 17, who Nine relied on during its campaign against Mr Roberts-Smith, never contact McKenzie again. It also states that she never contact any Nine executives or lawyers.
“The parties agree that the terms of this deed, any matter relating to the terms of the deed, the circumstances surrounding the entering into of the deed, and all information and documents regarding the claim, are confidential.”
After the emergence of the audio, Mr Roberts-Smith, who lost his seven-year defamation lawsuit against Nine in 2023, managed to have the appeal hearing into the war crimes finding re-opened, arguing that McKenzie’s alleged misconduct constitutes a miscarriage of justice.
The Federal Court rejected the appeal.
Mr Roberts-Smith originally sued Nine for defamation after being accused of war crimes during his deployments as an SAS soldier in Afghanistan.
Nine had sought a 50-year suppression order be granted on the secret deal, but lost the argument after media outlets, including The West Australian, successfully challenged.
