Adjudication No. 1273 (adjudicated February 2005) [2005] APC 6

Adjudication No. 1273 (adjudciated February 2005)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint from Cr Brian Oates, Deputy Mayor of the City of Casey, against the Cranbourne Leader and the Berwick/Pakenham Leader, two suburban newspapers published by the same company in Melbourne. The complaint alleges that the newspapers published material about Cr Oates that contained material the newspapers knew, or should have known, was untrue.

The articles, published on 26 October 2004 in the Berwick Leader and 27 October in the Cranbourne paper, arose from comments made by Cr Oates at a City of Casey council meeting which blamed the media for beating up a story about a religious vilification lawsuit against him and a fellow councillor. He says that, at the time of the publication of the articles, the newspapers were aware that the lawsuit had been withdrawn. In separate articles published the next week, both newspapers noted the withdrawal of the vilification complaint but also detailed the substantial costs to ratepayers involved in defending the action.

There had been earlier articles published in June 2003 about allegations made by the councillors that "local Satanists" were active in the region and attempting to set up a place of worship. The councillors had reportedly issued a press release claiming that a "Satanic cult is trying to attack and take over Casey Council". The legal action, by the Pagan Awareness Network, had arisen from those actions.

The newspapers say that their journalist had not attended the local council meeting in October 2004 but had spoken by phone to Cr Oates before the publication of the 26/27 October article. They say that he had not mentioned the withdrawal of the legal action to the journalist and "had he done so, that would have been the thrust of the story".

The Press Council is in no position to judge the claims and counter-claims of who said what to whom, or when they said it. However, when the newspapers were made aware by Cr Oates in a phone call of 27 October that the legal action had ended, they took the opportunity in the next available edition to inform their readers of the fact, promptly and with appropriate prominence, as required by Press Council principles.

In doing so they met any concerns that may have arisen from the original article and provided Cr Oates with balance.