Adjudication No. 406 (May 1989) [1989] APC 19

ADJUDICATION No. 406 (May 1989)

Mr Lonne complains to the Australian Press Council concerning an editorial comment on 25 November 1988 "Putting welfare's future on the line". This followed a report of a speech in the State Parliament by Mr Bert Crane MLA which was the subject of reports in the Daily News on 24 November 1988. Mr Lonne was one of two

officers named in the speech.

Mr Lonne complains concerning the editorial comment which stated: "The action of two child welfare officers in secretly taping an interview to get evidence in a custody battle was not only recklessly unlawful, it did irreparable harm to a department already the target of community suspicion ... But that motivation is seriously questioned when a mother of three flees that State after discovering her interview being taped by officers secretly wired for sound."

The comment concludes with the following "At the same time he (the head of the Community Services Department) should satisfy himself that staff have no other tricks up their sleeves that might be considered a breach of the law."

Mr Lonne complains that the editorial is wrong in two areas. He says that the recording of the conversation was legal and was accepted in evidence. The newspaper replies that in the opinion of its solicitors the secret taping was probably unlawful under the WA Listening Devices Act, 1978.

Mr Lonne also states that the woman in question did not flee the state because she discovered the conversations had been taped but had other reasons for doing so. He says evidence was given in court claiming that the woman in question had obtained rail tickets to leave the State at least a week before she knew the conversations with her had been taped. Further evidence supported this conclusion. The Magistrate hearing the matter stated the actions of the departmental officers were bona fide.

Mr Lonne understandably laments that as a public servant he is in the unenviable position of not being able to defend himself publicly against the allegations of Mr Crane MLA and what he describes as the total inaccurate editorial by the Daily News.

The editorial appears to have been based essentially on what was stated in Parliament. To that extent, the comment made by the editorialist is justifiable.

The complaint is dismissed