Regret the Error

A Canberra Times report published on October 22 in part referred to evidence that the Australian Electoral Commission’s chief legal officer, Paul Pirani, gave to a Senate estimates committee on the previous day. Contrary to what was incorrectly reported in the article, Mr Pirani clearly indicated to the committee that the Commonwealth Electoral Act did not apply to the issue of ACT Labor advertisements placed in The Canberra Times before the recent ACT Legislative Assembly election and that the matter did not fall in the jurisdiction of the Australian Electoral Commission.
The Canberra Times apologises to Mr Pirani for any negative inference concerning his personal and professional conduct as the commission’s chief legal officer or that he acted either unlawfully or unprofessionally in the evidence he gave to the committee.