Adjudication No. 137 (August 1982) [1982] APC 17

ADJUDICATION No. 137 (August 1982)

The secretary of the Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union (Victoria Branch), Mr J. J. Goddard, has complained to the council about an article published by The Age, Melbourne, on 19 January 1982.

The article, headed "Brewery hand was 0.3, Coroner told", reported an inquest on a brewery worker found dead in a brewery cellar. It dealt in the main with evidence about the man's blood-alcohol reading and access to alcohol at work and also reported the coroner's finding that the man had inhaled his vomit and died of asphyxiation. The article also noted that the coroner had said the pathologist's report showed intoxication had played a significant role.

The union has complained that the article dealt selectively with the evidence so as to suggest the inquest had found alcohol played a part in the death. It has also complained that the article ignored evidence about the presence of carbon dioxide gas in the cellar.

The paper's editor, Mr Creighton Burns, has replied that the article did not suggest the coroner believed intoxication had played a significant role in the death. He says it clearly stated that the coroner had merely recounted what was in the pathologist's report. He points out that all court reports involve selection. Finally, he says the evidence about carbon dioxide was ambiguous to say the least.

On the evidence before it, the council is unable to find fault with the article. The council agrees the report was selective, as are virtually all reports of court cases, but it appears to have been fair and accurate. The coroner's finding seems to have been presented clearly and the complainant appears to accept that the coroner said the pathologist's report showed intoxication had played a significant role. It does not seem unreasonable that most of the article should deal with evidence about the involvement of alcohol, especially considering the blood-alcohol level involved. Finally, evidence of the presence of carbon dioxide appears to have been too doubtful to demand that the article refer to it.

The complaint is dismissed.