Adjudication No. 216 (February 1985) [1985] APC 8

ADJUDICATION No. 216 (February 1985)

The NSW Teachers Federation complained of an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday, 29 September 1984. Under the heading "Guess who also helped Mr Hills" the editorial congratulated the NSW Government on a decision to cut back superannuation benefits for new public servants and went on: "But could we also have a round of applause for the NSW Teachers Federation which helped make it all possible". It then described negotiations going on over three years and emphasised the costliness of a union proposal. It continued:

Still, there is little doubt that the Government would have accepted the union scheme, or something very close to it. What stopped it was the Teachers Federation which regarded the union scheme as insufficiently generous.

The Teachers Federation complained that the editorial misrepresented the situation because the statement on which the editorial argument hinged, namely that there was little doubt that the Government would have accepted the original scheme, was "totally incorrect".

It is clear in the context of the editorial, and from the words "there is little doubt", that the Herald was presenting this statement not as an independently established fact, but as its own interpretation of the facts. Before us the Herald vigorously defended its interpretation, but we see no need to determine that issue. Whether the interpretation was right or wrong, we are satisfied that it was made in good faith and was based on substantial investigation. The paper was entitled to adopt it as its view. Its only obligation was to allow the Federation a reasonable opportunity to challenge its view and rebut the unfavourable comment based on it. This the paper did. It immediately published in full a letter from the Federation expounding its contrary view, and also another letter criticising the editorial.

The complaint is dismissed.