Adjudication No. 380 (September 1988) [1988] APC 27

ADJUDICATION No. 380 (September 1988)

Mr George Cook complains of an article in the Sunday Sun on 19 July, 1987 which reported: "A key figure behind the push to ban a book on Catholic doctrine is the man who advocated sending AIDS victims to isolated modern leper colonies. ... Cook was quoted in March as saying all AIDS carriers should be isolated from the rest of the community - perhaps on Stradbroke Island - in special infectious diseases hospitals."

Mr Cook did sign a letter addressed to the Queensland Government requesting that AIDS victims be treated in the Wattlebrae Hospital within the grounds of the Royal Brisbane Hospital, Herston, Brisbane. He had been an officer of the Queensland Health Department and spent some years administering the infectious diseases regulations. He therefore objected to the statement quoted which had earlier been published in the Daily Sun on 5/3/87.

During the course of a hearing by the Complaints Committee of the Press Council in February 1988, a settlement acceptable to Mr Cook was offered by the then editor. However there was a change of editors over two months later and although a subsequent article was published it did not contain everything agreed in the terms of settlement. The subsequent article did however correctly report Mr Cook's views in relation to the isolation of AIDS sufferers.

Unfortunately, there was some delay in publishing Mr Cook's views. In addition, he does point out that the subsequent article was published on page 34 and the earlier article on page 2 and that there are differences in size; in addition, the latter article was a statement that he was upset rather than being a retraction.

In relation to the report that Mr Cook had said that AIDS sufferers be sent to an uninhabited coastal island Mr Cook was entitled to a prompt and prominent correction.

The complaint is upheld.