Adjudication No. 296 (August 1986) [1986] APC 32

ADJUDICATION No. 296 (August 1986)

The Minister of Finance, Senator Walsh, complains of the response by the editor of The Canberra Times to a letter replying to an item in a column by Gay Davidson about what were said to be the effects of staff cuts in ACT government schools demanded by the Minister.

The editor wrote back to Senator Walsh arguing the point with him and saying that he would only be prepared to publish the letter in the amended form which he sent to the Senator. We are not concerned with the merits of the argument in the letters which passed between the Minister and the editor, but only with the question whether the editor was justified in insisting on the amendments to the letter submitted for publication.

One amendment deleted the final paragraph of the letter which said that the reporter's attempt to blame the Commonwealth Government over the matter was wrong and misleading. The editor refused to publish this because it was in his view a false accusation against the reporter. Whether or not the accusation was false depended on whether or not one accepted the Minister's argument. The paragraph was not a necessary part of the Minister's defence of his position, but a comment based on the acceptance of that defence.

The other amendments were in the statement of the Minister's defence, and altered and weakened that statement with no obvious justification. In the opinion of the Press Council the paper should not have insisted on altering this part of the letter, and in this regard the complaint is upheld.

The editor suggests that the Minister should have discussed the matter with him before complaining to the Press Council. However, the editor's letter to the Minister left no opening for further discussion.