Adjudication No. 676 (September 1993) [1993] APC 68

ADJUDICATION No. 676 (September 1993)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by the Shire of Mildura against the Mildura Independent Star over a short article published in the paper which the Shire Council did not like.

In handling the complaint, the Press Council urged the complainant to seek to have its views published in a letter to the paper, a practice the Press Council constantly advises and one it always urges editors to observe.

The paper, however, declined to publish the Shire Council's letter on the basis that it did not publish letters which were "untrue".

Under the headline "Big Study" on 21 March 1993, the Independent Star published a brief article saying the Mildura Shire Council "is to spend $25,000 for a consultant to review its administration."

The article said the consultant would investigate whether the Shire would be better served by a Chief Executive replacing the existing system of having a Shire Secretary and an Engineer. It mentioned that "one position targeted for redundancy is presently held by Mr David Eltringham."

In its complaint the Shire Council acknowledged it was carrying out a staff review and was seeking consultants (later, it did hire a consultant and decided to advertise Australia-wide for a General Manager) and said the cost could be more or less than the figure mentioned in the newspaper article.

The newspaper said it had contacted Mr Eltringham and that he had preferred that nothing further be published.

On balance, the Press Council concludes that the article was a reasonable account of a matter of obvious public interest to the Mildura Independent Star's readers. Because the public body involved, the Mildura Shire, did not like disclosure of what it was doing is no reason for the local press not to publish the information.

Although both sides could have made more effort to negotiate a statement by the Shire Council, there was no obligation on the paper to publish the Shire's letter in the form it was offered.