Adjudication No. 677 (September 1993) [1993] APC 69

ADJUDICATION No. 677 (September 1993)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint by the Strathfieldsaye Council against the Bendigo Advertiser in relation to an editorial published by the latter on 1 July 1993. The editorial had called on the government appointed Commissioner to appoint an administrator to investigate Strathfieldsaye Council. On the same days as the editorial was published the Commissioner handed down an interim report which contained such recommendation. The complainant claims that "the pre-empting of the findings of the Commissioner was not in the public interest and certainly not fair to the Commissioner".

The newspaper says that it was merely expressing a view on a contentious issue, that it represented a fair and balanced comment, and that it had no prior knowledge of the Commissioner's intention. It also claims that it was a mere coincidence that its editorial appeared on the same day as the Commissioner made his recommendation. Moreover, it indicates that it would have published a letter from the Strathfieldsaye Council criticising the editorial. The editorial was clearly marked as such and, in the view of the Press Council, the newspaper has not breached any of the Press Council's principles.