Bowen Basin Home Repossessions
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ABC Capricornia, News Digital: On Tuesday 29 November a report on ABC News Digital and the ABC Capricornia Facebook page included a photograph of a house for which rates are not owed to the council, and which is not connected with council’s plan to repossess houses for unpaid rates. The inclusion of the photograph was an error by the ABC. The house is owned by the children of the late Mrs Marlene Connolly. The ABC unreservedly apologises to Mrs Connolly’s children for its error and any harm it has caused.
Dr Bernie Power
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Local Radio Overnights: On 10 August in an interview with Dr Bernie Power about differences and similarities between the Bible and the Koran, the ABC failed to provide adequate information about the perspective from which Dr Power was addressing the issue. Dr Power lectures at the Melbourne School of Theology which is an evangelical Christian institution.
Peter Dutton
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774 ABC Melbourne Mornings with Jon Faine: During an exchange with the Breakfast presenter prior to his program, Mornings presenter Jon Faine accused federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton of racially vilifying and stereotyping all Lebanese Muslims migrants as terrorists and criminals, unaware that the Minister had made it clear during Question Time that he was not referring to any migrants who have “done the right thing” including those with Lebanese Muslim backgrounds. Mr Faine acknowledged his error on air the following morning.
MH 370 Search
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PM: On 1 December PM reported that the purpose of a meeting convened by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) for 2-4 November was to prepare a plan for the Federal Transport minister to extend the search for MH370 to an area near the 34th parallel. In a statement to PM prior to broadcast, the Minister denied that was the purpose of the meeting; the Minister stated that the meeting was convened to conduct a review of evidence already gathered. PM apologises for failing to report the minister’s statement. The 3 November PM story on MH370 has been removed from the website: the story overstated the status of a ATSB plan to extend the MH370 search area; inaccurately reported that the Minister withdrew from an interview when no such commitment was made; and lacked objectivity in a statement concerning the Minister’s use of social media. The ABC apologises to the Minister for these editorial lapses.
Nuclear Waste Study
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TV News: on 9 October 2016 ABC News in a report on the Citizens’ Jury process to examine the suitability of a nuclear waste disposal facility in South Australia, reported that the Royal Commission jury recommended building an intermediate level nuclear waste dump. This was not correct; the Royal Commission recommended the establishment of used nuclear fuel and intermediate level waste storage and disposal facilities in South Australia.
Tax Deductions for Religious Organisations
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Lateline: On 9 September Lateline reported that all donations to churches are entirely tax deductible. This was not accurate; the Australian Tax Office can deem services operated by religious organisations to be deductible gift recipients. The government’s plebiscite legislation contained a provision to set up Yes and No advertising committees. As well as being given $7.5 million each from the government, each side would also be given deductible gift recipient status, to allow people to claim tax deductions for donations of up to $1500.
Cannabis Oil
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News: On 19 September Queensland 7pm News and ABC News 24 reported on a father seeking special permission from the Queensland Government to use cannabis oil in hospital for his daughter’s palliative care. The report included comments from Dr Richard Kidd, a spokesman for the Queensland AMA that "Children, in particular, have presented in hospitals in comas and died from cannabis oil". Dr Kidd was referring a Colorado study of children admitted to hospitals following cannabis ingestion. While studies show that cannabis ingestion can induce coma, there have been no conclusive findings that cannabis has caused child deaths. The online report has been amended to reflect this.
Dastyari legal costs
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RN Breakfast: An interview with Senator Stephen Conroy on RN Breakfast on September 8 included questions about Yuhu Group’s financial support of Senator Sam Dastyari. The interviewer stated that $40,000 and $5,000 had been provided by Yuhu Group to assist Senator Dastyari with legal fees. The reference to $40,000 was incorrect. Yuhu Group’s financial support to Senator Dastyari was about $5,000 and related to the settlement of a legal dispute.
Man Horan Monis
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Q&A: On 12 September during an exchange discussing gun regulation and terrorism the events of the Lindt Cafe siege were dealt with briefly. Q&A implied that siege gunman Man Haron Monis lawfully bought a shotgun. This was not the case: Monis was not a licensed gun owner and while it remains unclear how he obtained the shotgun he used in the siege, the evidence presented to the Coronial Inquest is that it came from the so-called “grey market” of weapons. It had been legally imported but never registered.
Australian Paradox
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Lateline: On April 13 Lateline broadcast a story on controversy surrounding an academic paper on the relationship between sugar and obesity called The Australian Paradox. The online article following this broadcast stated that the paper had concluded “the amount of sugar you consumed in things like soft drink had nothing to do with how much weight you put on.” This exaggerated the conclusion and has been removed. The article also initially conflated ‘sugar’ with ‘sugary drinks’ in this statement: “what they had recorded as a fall in consumption of sugar was actually a significant rise”. This statement has been clarified and now states: “what they had recorded as a fall in consumption of sugary drinks was actually a significant rise”.
Duffy v Google
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The Drum, Online: In November 2015, The Drum published a story referring to the decision of the Supreme Court of South Australia in Duffy v Google, a 2015 defamation case won by Dr Janice Duffy which included an examination of whether Google could be held liable for defamatory content written and published by others, once it had been notified of the defamatory content.
Proposed Superannuation Changes
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The Business: on 13 July The Business reported that former Treasurer, Peter Costello introduced no tax on super fund earnings and no tax on super fund payments in retirement after the age of sixty. This is incorrect, earnings from superannuation funds for the over 60’s were tax free before the changes made by the Howard/Costello government.
Apology to Mr John McNair
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ABC News Digital: In July last year we broadcast a story which stated that horse trainer John McNair had been fined by Racing NSW for giving a horse amphetamine and methamphetamine, or "ice", before a race. That report was not correct. Mr McNair was fined for presenting a horse with a prohibited substance in its system, however racing stewards expressly found that Mr McNair did not administer or have any knowledge of the administration of the substance to the horse. The ABC apologises to Mr McNair for any hurt or embarrassment caused by the error.
Late-term abortions
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News Online: On 15 June ABC News Brisbane published an article on newly released figures showing that the number of babies surviving late-term abortions have increased in Queensland. The story has been modified to remove a statement that babies were "not rendered care and allowed to die". Comments from the Minister regarding the physiological care offered were added.
Gaza
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7.30: On June 15 in the introduction to a 7.30 story the presenter said that it was ‘almost impossible’ for Palestinians in Gaza to seek urgent medical attention in Israel. The ABC concedes this exaggerated the real difficulties of Palestinians seeking medical treatment in Israel. In the online version of the story Gaza was described as ‘occupied’. This was not correct and has been removed. The errors were introduced as a result of editing in Sydney.
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
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ABC News: On 22 May ABC Radio News reported that “Labor has committed to scrap the Federal Government’s so-called medicines tax-copayments”. The story did not make clear that the Labor opposition was opposing the rise in the co-payment, rather than committing to scrap the co-payment altogether.
Dairy Futures
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Landline: In its program on June 27 2016, in a story about the dairy industry, it was stated that "most of Australia's milk is sent overseas in the form of manufactured products like cheese and milk powder." This is incorrect. In fact, most of Australia's milk is consumed domestically. Only around 34 per cent of milk is exported.
Natvia
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News Online: on 13 July, ABC News published an article on Australian research that uncovered new evidence explaining why using artificial sweeteners might lead people to put on weight. The story was accompanied by an image of Natvia natural sweetener. Natvia is a natural sweetener and not an artificial sweetener; it does not contain sucralose and the picture was not appropriate for the story.
Kustom Kommune
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7pm News: On 16 June the 7pm News in Victoria broadcast a story suggesting that Kustom Kommune, had been evicted from its motorcycle workshop space. Kustom Kommune had itself given notice on the workshop after it was unable to reach a commercially acceptable arrangement with the landlord in relation to an adjacent, social space, which it needed to carry out social aspects of the Kustom Kommune’s activities.
Mid North Coast bail refused
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ABC Coffs Harbour News Online: On 5 April, ABC Coffs Coast published an article reporting three people were refused bail after being charged with drug offences. The report originally said one of the defendants faced a charge of detaining a person, which was incorrect. The story was updated to remove the incorrect information and an editor's note added explaining the change. The ABC regrets any distress the mistake may have caused.
AAA Rating
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7.30: On 7 July 7.30 said that Australia’s AAA credit rating had been downgraded by Standard and Poors. The ratings agency has put the rating on negative outlook; it has not been downgraded.
Wi-Fried
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Catalyst: On 16 February 2016, Catalyst aired 'Wi-Fried?', a program about the safety of wireless devices such as mobile phones. The program breached the ABC's impartiality standards by unduly favouring the unorthodox perspective that wireless devices and Wi-Fi pose significant health risks. It also contained several inaccuracies:
- It did not provide enough context for viewers to understand that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classification of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as "possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)" was specifically based on a positive association found in some studies between heavy mobile phone use and glioma, and not on any potential risks having been found in relation to Wi-Fi use.
- When citing the Bioinitiative Report, it did not acknowledge that report's significant scientific criticisms and shortfalls, and consequently overstated its credibility and independence.
- One statement in the program, "newer studies showing that people who begin to use cell phones regularly and heavily as teenagers have four to eight times more malignant glioma, that's a brain tumour, ten years later", was materially misleading as it overstated the risks identified in the relevant 2009 study, and implied that that study hadn't been considered by the IARC in its 2011 decision to classify RF electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic.
- Another statement, "When the bombs fell at the end of World War II on Japan, we followed every person who survived. Forty years is how long it took for brain cancer to develop after that exposure", overstated the latency period for brain cancer.
In recognition of these breaches of ABC editorial standards, the program was removed from the Catalyst website. An on-air statement acknowledging the breaches was made on 5 July 2016. A full investigation report from the ABC's Audience & Consumer Affairs unit is available here.
Linc Energy
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News: On 23 May 7pm News suggested that Linc Energy was associated with coal seam gas in Chincilla. Linc Energy did not have any involvement with coal seam gas but rather ran a coal gasification plant in Chincilla. Any reference to coal seam gas was removed from the report in subsequent broadcasts.
Border Force Allegations
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News: On 27 June, ABC News and ABC News Breakfast reported allegations of suspected corruption in Border Force. The news reports said that more than 100 immigration officials had been caught over the past 12 months allegedly selling visas for sex. That was incorrect.
Grim Warning
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Media Watch: On 16 May 2016, Media Watch criticised a front page Sydney Morning Herald story entitled ‘Grim warning’. One aspect of the criticism was that the story highlighted the carbon dioxide measurement of 400ppm (parts per million) – which the Cape Grim weather station was days away from recording – as being somehow significant, when in reality it is no more significant (except as a milestone) than 399 or 401ppm. Media Watch should have mentioned that the SMH story had in fact acknowledged this point (albeit on page 4). Another aspect of the criticism was that the 400ppm figure has been reached elsewhere before; the only significance of it occurring in Cape Grim is that it’s the first time it has happened in the Southern Hemisphere (where pollution is lower), and at a station where readings don’t fluctuate. Media Watch should also have mentioned that the story had acknowledged that 400ppm had been recorded several times already in the Northern Hemisphere. An on-air correction was broadcast on 20 June 2016, a note was added to the original story transcript pointing to the correction, and a link to the correction was placed on the Corrections section of the Media Watch website.
