Shark Alarm
Posted
AM: On July 18, 2015 in a story on a new form of shark alarm being trialled in Perth, AM reported that 172 sharks had been killed during the WA Government’s Shark Drum Line Deployment. The correct number is 68.
John McNair
Posted
ABC News Online: On Tuesday, 28 July 2014 the ABC reported in an online story that horse trainer John McNair had been penalised by Racing NSW for giving a horse the drug ice. This was incorrect. The specific breach of racing rules Mr McNair pleaded guilty to was bringing a horse to a race course with a prohibited substance in its system. Following their investigation into the matter, Racing NSW Stewards expressly noted that they were satisfied Mr McNair did not administer or have knowledge of the administration of the drug found in the horse’s system. The ABC apologises to Mr McNair for the error.
John Anderson
Posted | Updated
Q&A: In the course of Q&A on 22 July panel member Alan Jones while talking about connections between the National Party and mining companies stated "John Anderson, the former leader [of the National Party], who went to Eastern Star Gas on a success fee if he could sell Eastern Star Gas to Santos. I won't tell you what the success fee was.” Former deputy Prime Minister John Anderson contacted Q&A to say he received no success fee. The claim was first made in the Sydney Morning Herald on May 25 2015 but is untrue and was subsequently withdrawn and corrected by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Comparative costs of energy
Posted | Updated
Q&A: In the course of Q&A on 22 July panel member Alan Jones quoted figures on the comparative cost of coal powered energy and wind powered energy: "80% of Australian energy comes from coal, coal-fired power, and it’s about $79 a kilowatt hour. Wind power is about $1,502 a kilowatt hour. That is unaffordable.” Those figures are incorrect. Mr Jones apologised for the error and pointed Q&A to an analysis by The Conversation which clarifies the comparative costs.
Sexual Abuse Compensation
Posted | Updated
Lateline: On Wed July 22, Lateline published an online story by reporter Hamish Fitzsimmons about the push for a national redress scheme for victims of institutional sexual abuse. In it, he said that the Defence Abuse Response Task Force (DART) had been set up by the Defence Force to investigate and respond to claims of abuse. This was incorrect. DART was set up by the Commonwealth Government in response to the DLA Piper Review and is administered by the Attorney- General’s Department.
Solar PV
Posted
RN: A statement on RN Breakfast on 25 May that "solar PV has cost Australia $9 billion and we have the highest penetration of any country in the world" has been found to be incorrect, and has been removed from both the online audio and the online program description.
PETA complaint about sheep abuse
Posted | Updated
ABC Rural: On 21-22 May 2015 ABC Rural aired a story on some editions of the Country Hour and Rural Report, and posted a story online, about verbal abuse of sheep and whether this constituted actual animal abuse.
The ABC acknowledged that the May 2015 story was misleading and inaccurate in its reporting of a PETA complaint against a sheep farmer because inadequate context was provided about PETA's specific and detailed claims of physical animal cruelty. There was no stand-alone complaint of verbal abuse. Further, the ABC accepts that despite representations from PETA the reports were not amended in a timely manner, in contravention of the Corporation's corrections and clarifications standards.
Eric Abetz
Posted | Updated
Insiders and ABC News 24: The Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon made the following statement on Insiders, Sunday July 12 (that episode was also repeated on ABC News 24 that same day): In reference to the cost to the federal government of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption Mr Fitzgibbon said: 'Some $17 million has gone to the former legal firm of Senator Eric Abetz.' The ABC has since been informed that this statement is inaccurate, and the ABC apologises to Senator Abetz for the error and for the rebroadcast of that episode on ABC News 24.
Paul Howes and Royal Commission
Posted
On Wednesday, July 8, the ABC reported in an online story that the Royal Commission had heard that in 2010, Paul Howes had signed off on a memorandum of understanding between the AWU and cleaning company Cleanevent that called for annual payments of $25,000 by Cleanevent to the union. That suggestion is incorrect, and the ABC accepts that the memorandum of understanding did not provide for payments by Cleanevent to the AWU.
Zaky Mallah
Posted | Updated
Lateline
On Thursday, June 25, During an interview with Gerard Henderson and Jonathon Holmes, presenter Emma Alberici stated that Tony Abbott referred to Zaky Mallah as a "convicted terrorist”. Mr Abbott’s exact words were that Mallah was a “convicted criminal and terrorist sympathiser". The presenter later quoted Zaky Mallah saying on Q&A that Steve Ciobo's comments would “encourage [Australian Muslims] to join Islamic State”. Mr Mallah said that Mr Ciobo had "justified to many Australian Muslims in the community tonight to leave and go to Syria and join ISIL".
Barnaby Joyce and Rinehardt Family Dispute
Posted
THE DRUM
On the program of 29/05/15 there was a discussion of Federal National Party politician Barnaby Joyce’s personal intervention in a family dispute between Gina Rinehardt and her children. When he was a Senator and Opposition Frontbencher, Mr Joyce wrote to one of the children urging a settlement that avoided court proceedings. The Drum discussion centred on whether it was appropriate for a senior politician to make such and intervention using an official email address. However, during the discussion there were a number of references to “ministerial” or “Federal Minister” when referring to Mr Joyce’s actions and this was incorrect as the event took place before Mr Joyce left the Senate and became a Government Minister in a subsequent election.
Brown Coal
Posted | Updated
On Tuesday, May 5, AM reported that the carbon intensity of electricity generation from Victoria’s brown coal power stations is 50% higher than from power stations using black coal. The story should have made it clear that this is at the upper end of a range which varies significantly depending on the nature of the fuel and the particular power station.
Making Australia Great: Inside our Longest Boom
Posted
In the 3rd episode of Making Australia Great it was incorrectly stated that Australia was the first Western nation to recognise the People’s Republic of China in the early 1970s. In fact France was the first Western nation to formally recognise the People’s Republic of China in the 1960s. This episode will be edited to remove this error prior to any repeat broadcast.
St Alipius Primary School
Posted
7pm News: On 22 May the 7pm News incorrectly identified the existing St Alipius Primary School in Ballarat as the site of sexual abuse by former priest, Robert Best. The abuse occurred at Christian Brothers St Alipius Primary School, Ballarat East, which closed in 1976.
Great Barrier Reef science
Posted
ABC Rural Queensland: Information in relation to funding and possible conflicts of interest was inadvertently edited from an interview broadcast on Far North Queensland's Rural Report on 24 April. The interview in its entirety has been posted online and listeners were advised about the additional information in a subsequent Rural Report.
Hasham family
Posted
News Budget Special: On May 12 in a package on the reaction of the Hasham family to the federal budget, Mariette Abboud was identified as 'Mary Hasham' mother of Anthony Hasham. While Anthony considers Mary to be like a mother to him and described her as his mother to our reporter, she is not his biological mother.
Vincent Virtue
Posted | Updated
News Digital: On May 20, 2015, the ABC published an article entitled "IBAC hearings: Former principal Vincent Virtue knew he was signing off on false invoices, Victorian anti-corruption hearing told." This article concerned, among other things, the evidence of Vincent Virtue at the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission on 19 and 20 May 2015. It has since come to the ABC's attention that certain aspects of this report were inaccurate and the ABC apologise to Mr Virtue for that.
David Martin
Posted
7.30: On Monday May 11, 7.30 incorrectly identified David Martin as a sports psychologist. He is a sports scientist. The transcript has been altered.
Changes to the pension
Posted
The Drum: On Thursday May 7, The Drum program said changes to the pension mooted by the Federal Government would see increases for some in the order of $30 per week. That should be $30 per fortnight.
Healthway
Posted
7pm News: On Monday April 27 the Perth edition of the 7pm News introduced a story on Healthway stating “Labor first wrote to the Auditor General after it was revealed Healthway staff and Board members misused $220,000 worth of tickets". The figure represents the total estimated market value of hospitality provided to Healthway over four years. The Public Sector Commission did not find that that amount had been misused. The report identified various amounts that were not used or were used appropriately as well as benefits which had been used by Healthway officers, their friends and their families.
Max Solutions and Ms Deborah Homewood
Posted | Updated
Weekend Breakfast: The April 26, 2015 edition of ABC News 24’s Weekend Breakfast program included discussion about an article published in The Saturday Paper concerning job seekers. As part of the discussion, comments by a guest commentator were aired concerning the company Max Solutions Pty Limited. Max Solutions has advised the ABC that it strongly disagrees with those comments. The ABC now accepts that a number of statements made in the Weekend Breakfast program about Max Solutions were incorrect. If any members of the public understood any comments within the discussion to be referring to Ms Deborah Homewood personally, then the ABC apologises to Ms Homewood.
Gabrielle McMullin
Posted
News Breakfast: On Tuesday March 10, the News ‘ticker’ reported that Dr Gabrielle McMullin "stands by comments female trainees should not report sexual advances". The story referred to an interview the previous evening on 7.30 in which she said that she stood by her criticisms of the surgery profession and its handling of sexual harassment allegations but that her original comments suggesting trainees would be better off if they submitted to sexual advances were ironic and that trainees should fight harassment.
Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus
Posted
ABC Rural: On Tuesday 21 April 2015, a story about the discovery of Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus on a north Queensland watermelon farm incorrectly stated that a Bundaberg based plant nursery had once had the virus on their property. An image of the nursery was published as part of the story. In fact the nursery operation had clearly stated that its own testing had found no trace of the virus. Biosecurity Queensland, while acknowledging it had investigated a number of Queensland nurseries when the virus was first found in the Northern Territory, has not identified any Queensland nurseries with the virus. The story has been corrected, and an editor's note included to explain the changes.
Cyclone Marcia wind speeds
Posted
RN: On February 25, RN Afternoons reported winds speeds of up to 285km/h in Rockhampton during Cyclone Marcia. This was based on forecasts of a category 5 cyclone. Actual recorded maximum wind speeds in the area ranged from 113km/h in Rockhampton to 205km/h just north of the city.
Relationship with step-sister
Posted
triple j: On Thursday April 16, triple j Hack interviewed 'Alex' who said he was in a long-term relationship with his step-sister 'J'. Excerpts from the interview were also used in Hack's online blog post. On finding that 'Alex' fabricated his story, the program clarified and apologised on air on Monday April 20 and the blog post has been taken down.
