THE man who defended David Hicks when Australia wouldn't gave Highlanders an insight into the process at the latest Supper Club.

Michael 'Dan' Mori was in town to promote his memoir on the subject In the Company of Cowards: Bush, Howard and the injustice at Guantanamo and joined William Verity in conversation at Centennial Vineyards.

While Mr Mori is now the social justice consultant at Shine Lawyers in Melbourne, he served in the United States Marine Corps for 28 years.

In that time he had an "accidental career journey" after enlisting as an eighteen-year-old, Mr Mori trained and served as a military lawyer before successfully nominating to be a defense attorney for the military commissions in the post-9/11 world.

"I expected to get a terrorist involved with 9/11 and, to be honest, I kind of felt a little ripped off to get David Hicks who wasn't," he said.

While he initially felt ripped off, Mr Mori shared the struggle to get David Hicks a fair trial and fair treatment by the Australian government while dealing with the inhumane conditions for inmates at Guantanamo Bay.

It was a treatment Mr Mori said wasn't considered acceptable for citizens of a long list of countries.

"It wasn't good enough for a US citizen or a British citizen, but it was good enough for an Australian," he said.

"It wasn't the cause, it was the case.

"We weren't trying to get Guantanamo closed, we were trying to get David Hicks out."

David Hicks was allowed to return to Australia in 2007 after five-and-a-half years in Guantanamo Bay.

To read more about the case and Mr Mori's experience you can buy his book, In the Company of Cowards: Bush, Howard and the injustice at Guantanamo at The Bookshop Bowral.

Supper Club is held each month and includes dinner and a glass of wine at Centennial Vineyards before a talk from the featured author.

The next event is on Thursday, October 30 at 6.30pm when Travel and food lover Dee Nolan shares A Food Lover's Pilgimage to France.