Adjudication No. 713 (March 1994) [1994] APC 22

ADJUDICATION No. 713 (March 1994)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint concerning a cartoon entitled "EARLY SETTLERS EXTINGUISHING NATIVE TITLE" in the Courier-Mail on 3 September 1993.

The cartoon accompanied a story on the Commonwealth's proposal for a national approach to the Mabo question. Mr D J Jones complains that it breached two of the Press Council's principles: that it was a lapse of taste so repugnant as to bring the freedom of the press into disrepute, and that it placed gratuitous emphasis on race. He argued that it was divisive at a time when real efforts were being made for reconciliation.

Cartoonists have traditionally enjoyed considerable licence in the satirical presentation of the issues of the day. Some readers may be offended by the cartoon, but the Council does not believe it breached either of the two principles.