Adjudication No. 1405 (adjudicated September 2008) [2008] APC 26

Adjudication No. 1405 (adjudicated September 2008)

The Council has upheld a complaint by John Carter, a member of the Australian Beef Association (ABA), over a May 1 article published in the Queensland Country Life.

The article headed Woolies' big beef on prices reported details of ABA's submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into grocery prices.

In its submission ABA quoted data from the United States Department of Agriculture to argue Australian consumers were being overcharged for beef at supermarkets in comparison with US shoppers.

The article then reported that "On face value the USDA table sounds like a 'credible and relevant source'... but even a cursory examination of the actual supermarket environment in the US shows the figures are a long way from reality". It then detailed the results of an internet search of some US supermarkets and retail data collected independently from 100 beef outlets across Australia.

The article also contained a response to the ABA submission by Woolworths and said that ACCC head Graham Samuel had "criticised ABA's lack of substantive evidence" in support of claims made against supermarket groups.

Mr Carter disputed that Mr Samuel's comments during the inquiry amounted to criticism.

In its response the newspaper produced a transcript which showed Mr Samuel questioning whether Mr Carter's organisation had done a study of gross and earnings before interest and tax of margins of US and Australian beef retailers.

However both parties told the Council that they believed that Mr Samuel's comments were open to differing interpretations.

The paper also defended its use of internet-sourced statistics and said other data was from a Meat and Livestock Australia survey.

Mr Carter also complained that the article quoted a beef producer, David Byard, as a director of the ABA, which he is not. While the paper corrected this error, its inclusion of the Byard comments in the article also presented the ABA in a negative way.

Publications should take care when reporting matters highlighting conflicting statistics. The sources for such statistics should be clearly stated so that their authenticity can be valued. In this case, the Council believes that the newspaper should have, at least, provided recognised statistical analysis in support of its criticism of the ABA, and upholds the complaint.