Adjudication No. 896 (November 1996) [1996] APC 70

ADJUDICATION No. 896 (November 1996)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint about a report in the Herald Sun newspaper on the official opening of an illegal firearms destruction centre by the Victorian Police Minister.

John McNamara complained that the first person to hand in his firearms at the ceremony was described only as a pig-shooter, when in fact he was also a policeman, as was reported in another newspaper.

Mr McNamara said the Herald Sun "suppressed" this fact because of what he claimed was the newspaper's anti-gun bias. He said the report gave a false impression that the policeman was just an average gun-owner, when his fortuitous appearance at the head of the queue was open to the interpretation that he was part of a police department "publicity stunt", as he was quoted as saying that although he was unhappy about having to return his firearms, he was happy with the financial compensation he received for them.

The Herald Sun told the Press Council it was unaware that the man was a policeman, and that if it were subsequently to publish the fact that he was, to satisfy Mr McNamara's concerns, it could only be seen as an insinuation that the policeman was indeed part of a publicity stunt - an insinuation the newspaper was not prepared to make. The Press Council notes the newspaper featured on the same page another gun-owner who protested strongly about the new firearm regulations and the compensation being offered to owners.

The Press Council can therefore see nothing unreasonable in the newspaper's treatment of the story.