Corrections & Clarifications

News Online: On 26 April, a story about the approval of the Yeelirrie uranium mine stated that it was expected to produce up to 7,500 tonnes of yellow cake concentrate over 15 years. The story has been amended to clarify that the figure was 7,500 tonnes per year over the 15-year period.

Mornings, ABC Radio Melbourne: On 26 April 2019 during a weekly wrap segment, guest panellists made references to Julian Assange having jumped bail on sexual assault charges. This is incorrect, Mr Assange absconded from bail after the UK Supreme Court upheld a ruling that he should be extradited to Sweden to face questioning over sexual assault allegations.

7pm News: On 11 May 2019 in a report on the controversy around Israel Folau’s social media posts, Reverend Dr Headley Fihaki was incorrectly identified as the national chair of the Uniting Church;  while he is a Uniting Church Minister, he is not a spokesperson for the Uniting Church.  He is the national chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the Uniting Church.

730: On 5 March this year the ABC broadcast a 7.30 story and online article about marketing by online gambling company Sportsbet. That story referred to a $40,000 payment made by Sportsbet to NRL coach Trent Barrett in 2013. The ABC wishes to clarify that there is no suggestion that such payments were contrary to the rules applicable to Mr Barrett at the time or that Mr Barrett otherwise behaved dishonestly.

730: On April 25, 2019 7.30 broadcast and published online a story stating that Charles Alfred Gage was the first Indigenous soldier to die on the Western Front. This was incorrect; at least three other Indigenous soldiers died before him on the Western Front.

7pm News: On 10 March an ABC Newcastle Special Report ‘Out of the Ashes’ investigated the environmental impact of fly ash, a by-product of coal fired power stations.  It also featured concern from stakeholders who implied that the cement industry abuses its market position to restrict  the repurposing of fly ash, however, the report failed to present the view of the cement industry in response to this allegation.  The ABC regrets this omission, and notes that industry body Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia says that fly ash must meet exacting standards to be suitable for use, and that 90 per cent of what is available is used.  

Drive Melbourne: On 4 March in a discussion on ABC Radio Melbourne’s Drive program Professor Jeremy Gans was incorrectly described as a consistent defender of Cardinal George Pell.  The ABC accepts that Professor Gans’ tweets on this subject discussed the law applicable to the Pell case and did not amount to support or advocacy. 

News Channel: On 29  March, the News Channel displayed a  bottom of frame ‘ticker’ that said “Labor to scrap negative gearing in 2020 if it wins the next federal election”. This should have made clear that the policy will only apply to new investments in existing property.

Saturday Extra: On Saturday January 26, two visiting Israeli water experts made comments about the Israeli National Water Carrier and the importance of water to Israel’s national security, but the program failed to put this into the broader context of the high-degree of contention around Israel’s water management. On Saturday February 2, the program spoke to another guest with expertise in the water crisis in Palestine. However some highly contentious statements were not challenged and the program failed to present a Palestinian perspective or response. The ABC deeply regrets these omissions.

News Channel: On 26 March 2019, a presenter stated “Lynas is the sole producer of rare earth's minerals outside of China which produced 97% of the rare earths in the world.” This was not correct, China produces approximately 70% of world production. Australia, principally Lynas, is the largest of ten other producer countries.

News : On 17 March ABC News Victoria reported that the number of homes that could be powered by a waste-to-energy plant at Wollert was nearly 750,000. That figure is not correct and has been amended to the correct figure of about 2,000.

Insiders: On March 3 during a discussion about recent ministerial resignations, it was stated that MPs who retire as ministers would benefit from a higher parliamentary pension than they would be entitled to if they contested the next election and lost their ministership. This is incorrect. According to a spokesman from the Department of Finance, ceasing an office does not retrospectively reduce an MP’s prior accrued benefits.

News: In December last year the ABC published several stories concerning an approved clinical trial of shoulder replacement devices in Australia. We wish to clarify that those stories were not intended to suggest that the doctors involved in that trial, including Dr Phillip Duke, had conducted themselves inappropriately and the ABC withdraws any such suggestion.

7.30: On 18 February 2016, the ABC broadcast an episode of 7.30 about oncologist Dr John Grygiel in relation to chemotherapy dosing amounts. Dr Grygiel has complained that some viewers of the broadcast could have understood the ABC as having accused him of having physically harmed patients. The ABC did not intend to convey any such accusation.  If any viewer understood the broadcast in that way, the ABC withdraws it and apologises for any harm or distress suffered by Dr Grygiel as a result. Dr Grygiel brought defamation proceedings against the ABC in relation to the broadcast and those proceedings have now been settled on confidential terms.

The Business: On February 4, it was stated that mortgage brokers are not required to disclose their commissions. This is inaccurate and ABC News wishes to clarify that the National Consumer Credit Protection Act does require mortgage brokers to disclose commissions to clients, however as noted in the program, the Act does not require the broker act in the best interest of the client

The Drum: On 18 February, during a discussion of the awarding of a contract to provide security services on Manus Island by a company called the Paladin Group, we read biographical details of a man called David, who we referred to as the managing director of Paladin Group. He is in fact the CEO of a different Paladin Group of companies, which services the health and fitness and IT sectors and is based in Queensland. It is unrelated to the Paladin Group which was the subject of our discussion.

The ABC apologises for the error.

News & Insiders: In November 2018 the ABC published an article about ongoing court action by the Australian Workers Union to shut down an investigation into donations, which was also discussed on the Insiders program. Those publications said that the Union had retained private investigators to “track down” former political staffer, Ben Davies, to subpoena him. The ABC wishes to clarify that it did not intend to suggest that Mr Davies was evading service of the subpoena and acknowledges that Mr Davies’ solicitors had approached the Union to accept service. The ABC apologises for any suggestion to the contrary.

News: On Sunday 13 January in a 7pm ABC News story it was reported that Canada allows commercial surrogacy. This was incorrect. Canada allows altruistic surrogacy and a surrogate can be paid for pregnancy-related expenses

The Drum: On 18 December, 2018 a guest, Bhakthi Puvanenthiran made the statement “you need a 3 year degree to become a childcare worker”. The minimum legal requirement for a childcare worker is Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, which can be completed in less than three years.

7.30: In an interview on 4 July 2018 Mr Grant made comments concerning the sentence imposed on former Archbishop Philip Wilson for concealing child sex abuse. He was asked for the following retraction to be published.

“On 4 July 2018 I made statements in the media about the decision by Magistrate Robert Stone to impose sentence on Archbishop Wilson. I now accept that my remarks may have had the regrettable effect of casting doubt on the learned magistrate’s professional abilities and application of the law. I have apologised unreservedly to Magistrate Stone for any harm he has sustained and for the hurt and embarrassment suffered as a result of my statements.”

PM: During an interview on 29 of November it was stated that Adani, the operator of the proposed Carmichael mine, did not have an Indigenous Land Use Agreement. This is not correct. The report should have referred to Adani not having an uncontested Indigenous Land Use Agreement. A group of traditional owners is challenging the validity of the agreement before a full bench of the Federal Court.

RN Breakfast: On 4 September 2018 RN Breakfast broadcast an interview with Tjanara Goreng Goreng discussing her memoir. In the interview it was stated as fact that Father Mick Hayes and Father Grove Johnson sexually abused Ms Goreng Goreng and Father Johnson died before the establishment of the Sex Abuse Royal Commission. Father Hayes died before the allegations were made. Father Johnson was alive when the Royal Commission was established but denied the allegations and a police investigation was reportedly closed before he died for lack of evidence. The headline has been altered to clarify that the accusation is an allegation.

7.30: On Wednesday 7 November 2018 in a story on shark attacks in Whitsundays, 7.30 showed an image of a website belonging to a boat charter company that was not involved in the shark attack fatality. To avoid any misunderstanding, the image has been removed.

Background Briefing: On 26 April and 6 May 2018 programs examining The Murray Darling Basin Plan gave undue weight to a research paper questioning the effectiveness of infrastructure subsidies designed to increase environmental water and included two factual errors.

References to the SDL Adjustment Mechanism which was the subject of a Senate vote and the statement “The Federal Senate is due to vote on major changes to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan – if it passes, it will effectively end further water recovery for the environment in the river system”, should have included reference to the potential recovery of 450 GL through additional efficiency measures. While the likelihood of the recovery of the 450GL is disputed, this was required material context.

Further, it was misleading to suggest that the creation of licences given to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder as a direct result of the infrastructure subsidies are equivalent to “printing notes” and are not underpinned by real water, without pointing out that the scheme involves transferring existing water entitlements and no new entitlement is created.

A short video explaining the role of ‘return flows’ in the Plan was also found to unduly favour criticisms of the Plan and has been withdrawn.

Tonightly with Tom Ballard: The ABC, through its show Tonightly with Tom Ballard, broadcast a story on 23 April 2018 concerning the Camp Gallipoli Foundation and its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Christopher Fox.

The ABC wishes to clarify that, although the objects of the Camp Gallipoli Foundation included "to use the surplus from the Camp Gallipoli commemorative events to support RSL branches and Legacy Clubs", most of its other objects did not concern fundraising.

Whilst the Camp Gallipoli Foundation did not make a distribution of funds to the RSL and/or Legacy Clubs in the years 2015 and 2016, Mr Fox has told the ABC that the Camp Gallipoli Foundation did deliver on its other objectives, namely:
a) to ensure the preservation of the memory and honour of those who suffered and died in all theatres of war commencing from the Gallipoli landing in the First World War, through the Camp Gallipoli commemorative events;
b) to bring together communities from varying backgrounds, cultures, and locations to celebrate the ANZAC spirit;
c) to encourage families and school communities to come together to honour and ensure the ANZAC spirit lives on; and
d) to educate and reinforce the ANZAC spirit to our youth.

The ABC accepts that it did not have a proper basis to suggest that Mr Fox acted improperly in his role as CEO of the Camp Gallipoli Foundation and regrets and unreservedly withdraws the statement made by Mr Ballard that the Camp Gallipoli concept was a poorly conceived plan that ballooned into a costly and devastating failure thanks to the greed and hubris of those in command.

The ABC unreservedly apologises to Mr Fox for the embarrassment and distress caused to him by reason of the broadcast.