117․ It is agreed in the Agreed Statement of Facts that risk should not be assessed by reference only to a particular piece of information, because pieces of information can be combined to reveal more information than each piece of information considered individually. It is also agreed that the risk of prejudice is incapable of precise quantification and that any prejudice may not be immediately realised or apparent. Information in some of the documents has been declassified and publicly released. In their declassified format, those documents are incapable of prejudicing the defence, national security or international relations of Australia.
118․ In August 2016, Major General Paul Brereton contacted Mr McBride via his ADF email address, which was still current. He advised Mr McBride that he had been appointed to conduct the IGADF's Afghanistan Inquiry and invited Mr McBride to speak to him. Mr McBride did not respond to this email and has no recollection of receiving an email from Major General Brereton. Major General Brereton used some information from Mr McBride's IGADF Submission to identify some issues for inquiry. The Afghanistan Inquiry was initiated by the ADF more than 12 months prior to the ADF becoming aware of Mr McBride's disclosures.
119․ A small number of the documents that Mr McBride took contained within them confidential cabinet communications.
120․ The harm or potential harm to the defence, national security or international relations of Australia is agreed to have arisen in the following ways:
- (a) the removal of the documents from ADF facilities, including the subsequent multiple movements of the documents and storage of the documents at Mr McBride's Griffith property;
- (b) the unauthorised disclosure of the documents to three journalists, including the copying of the documents and multiple movements of the documents; and
- (c) the publication of materials on the Website.
121․ These three aspects of the harm or potential harm are elaborated in the Agreed Statement of Facts as follows.
Removal of the documents from ADF facilities
122․ Mr McBride's removal of the documents from ADF facilities and their subsequent movements gave rise to the possibility that an unauthorised person had access to them. No investigation has been conducted into whether any such access occurred.
123․ Because of the potential that a person had read or copied the materials found in Mr McBride's Griffith property, Australia's foreign partners had to be, and were, notified
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