Adjudication No. 197 (May 1984) [1984] APC 20

ADJUDICATION No. 197 (May 1984)

By letter of November 24, the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service complains about an article in the Northern Territory News on November 18.

The article, headed "Aid Service attacks misuse claims", was a report on complaints against the service by the NT Police Association and the Commissioned Officers Police Association.

The Service says it issued a Press Release in response and has no objection to the proper reporting of the allegations and the Service's response.

The complaint revolves around a paragraph in the story which says:

They (the police associations) also say they have been reliably informed that a CAALAS vehicle was not available to drive an Aboriginal youth to court in Alice Springs on Wednesday because vehicles were being used to attend to demonstrators.

The Service points out this allegation was not contained in the original allegations it was answering and that before printing this fresh, and specific, allegation the newspaper should have sought its comments.

The paper responds by saying that on both November 16 and November 30 the Service representative appeared in court in Alice Springs and that on both occasions the court was informed that there had been difficulties in obtaining the use of a vehicle to get the juvenile to court.

It says it checked with a source which confirms that on November 17 and 18 a CAALAS Toyota Hi-Ace ZUD 948 was seen at Pine Gap carrying women protestors and groceries.

The Service responds by saying it does not own such a vehicle and all its vehicles are NT registered. "ZUD 948" was not a NT registration and the Service did not use Z plates, which were used only by government vehicles.

The Press Council believes it was unfair for the newspaper to present a new allegation against the Service without giving it an opportunity to respond.

The fact that the newspaper's source claimed, apparently wrongly, that the Service used one of its own vehicles, the Toyota, to carry women protesters and groceries at Pine Gap may have been answered if such an opportunity had been given.

The complaint is upheld.