00:02Packed up for pick up, David McBride officially on parole after more than two years in prison.
00:09It's a beautiful day to be free and I thank all my supporters.
00:13I thank the Attorney General for granting me parole.
00:16The former military lawyer will serve the rest of his sentence in the community,
00:20having leaked top-secret defence information to journalists.
00:24His plan to expose a supposed over-investigation of soldiers backfired,
00:29instead revealing ADF involvement in unlawful killings.
00:33Along the way, McBride has become a poster boy for whistleblowers.
00:41Him being the only one who's actually gone to jail over all of these revelations,
00:45people can really see the injustice.
00:47The Commonwealth is the only jurisdiction in the country without an independent parole board.
00:53It means the decision to grant or deny David McBride's parole
00:57was entirely in the hands of the Federal Attorney General, Michelle Rowland.
01:01Parliament passed laws back in April to establish that independent board,
01:06but it's still not up and running, leaving high-profile parole decisions like this
01:10entirely in the hands of politicians.
01:12We don't have any ideas or information about how that decision was made.
01:17If it went the other way, we'd be sitting here asking,
01:20well, how the hell did that happen?
01:22Some of his first weeks of freedom will be spent having surgery,
01:25with McBride revealing a lung cancer diagnosis.
01:28I'm looking forward to seeing my dog, and my daughters, particularly my dog!
01:36Putting prison in the rear-view mirror.
01:39Let's check it out.
01:39Let's check if you've been in the right-view mirror.
01:39Let's check in.
01:40saja the wrong way.
01:41Let's check out.
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