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Chris Masters speaks outside the Federal Court in June 2023. He and journalist Nick McKenzie from The Age won a defamation case filed by ex-soldier Ben Roberts-Smith against their reporting.

War Memorial director blames ‘communication breakdown’ for book-prize saga

The War Memorial’s governing council rejected celebrated journalist Chris Masters’ book about war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith despite an independent judging panel choosing him as the winner.

  • Matthew Knott

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Investigative journalists Chris Masters (left) and Nick McKenzie, speak outside the court after winning a defamation case brought against them by Ben Roberts-Smith.

Invited, uninvited, reinvited: Journalist will deliver controversial speech

Chris Masters has been re-invited to deliver the CEW Bean war history lecture, after a neutral venue was secured.

  • Harriet Alexander
Rachel Perkins at lunch at Bush, Redfern.

Rachel didn’t want to tell her great-grandmother’s story. Now strangers thank her for it

Rachel Perkins’ new book starts with an atrocity that is personal to her but emblematic for many.

  • Helen Pitt
Chris Masters speaks outside the Federal Court in June last year after winning the defamation case filed by ex-soldier Ben Roberts-Smith.

‘Might ruffle feathers’: Award-winning journalist Chris Masters uninvited from delivering lecture

The acclaimed writer was invited last month to deliver the 2026 CEW Bean lecture. But that invitation has been rescinded.

  • Harriet Alexander
Australian War Memorial chair Kim Beazley has defended the decision not to award a literary prize to veteran journalist Chris Masters.

Kim Beazley defends controversial decision to deny Chris Masters a literary prize

The Australian War Memorial Council chair insisted the decision had nothing to do with the fact Masters’ book was about war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith.

  • Matthew Knott
Disgraced soldier Ben Roberts-Smith appealed all the way to the High Court and lost in his defamation case.

Albanese backs War Memorial council despite prize fiasco

The council effectively overturned a decision by a judging panel to give a major literary award to a book on disgraced soldier Ben Roberts-Smith.

  • Nick Bonyhady and Connor McGoverne
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Nick McKenzie (left) and Chris Masters arriving at the Federal Court in Sydney during Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial.

How is that an Aussie fair go, for the War Memorial to change the rules at half-time?

I was surprised, and not surprised, that my book had been twice rejected by the Australian War Memorial as winner of the Les Carlyon Literary Award, despite being nominated by independent judges.

  • Chris Masters
Ben Roberts-Smith at the Federal Court in Sydney in May.

Australian War Memorial changes book prize rules to reject Ben Roberts-Smith exposé

When the judges announced acclaimed journalist Chris Masters as the winner, it proved a step too far for the institution.

  • Kerrie O'Brien
Forgotten pianist Isador Goodman’s New Guinea Fantasy has never been performed in concert. Simon Tedeschi is bringing it back to life.
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This song was written in a war zone on Australia’s doorstep

Forgotten pianist Isador Goodman’s New Guinea Fantasy has never been performed in concert. Simon Tedeschi is bringing it back to life.

A piece of music never before heard live will be performed for the first time at the Australian War Memorial.

The extraordinary story behind a forgotten pianist’s wartime composition

One of Australia’s most accomplished musicians wrote a stirring tribute while in the jungles of New Guinea. Simon Tedeschi is bringing it back to life.

  • Nick Galvin