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A REPORT in The Weekend Australian on Saturday (“Soldiers’ despair confronts Defence”, page 1), mentioned “the death from a suspected illegal drug overdose of a young Australian army commando in Afghanistan last month”.
This was incorrect. The soldier did not die.
In articles in The Weekend Australian last week, there were references to a property developer who was operating on the Gold Coast after moving from Victoria, and who was described as “Mr A”. For legal reasons, The Weekend Australian cannot disclose Mr A’s name, however the newspaper can confirm that Mr A is not Mr Ian Anderson, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
DURING March and April, The Australian published a number of articles about Paragon Printing Limited and its owner Amir Hyster. Paragon was put into administration on March 5 and Mr Hyster left for overseas on March 9. The Australian accepts that Mr Hyster did not leave for the purpose of avoiding his responsibilities and understands that he has returned to Australia and has at all times been available to assist the administrators. The Australian apologises to Mr Hyster for any hurt, harm or embarrassment he has suffered.
A REPORT in The Weekend Australian on May 8-9, (“Newk puts his finger on his big mistake”, Page 5), may have given some readers the impression that former tennis great John Newcombe was battling terminal cancer. In fact, the basal cell carcinoma removed from his face was found to be non-malignant. Mr Newcombe is also recovering on schedule from hip replacement surgery.
A REPORT in The Weekend Australian on Saturday (“Deripaska’s hard stare has vision”, Page 25) made reference to Russian businessman Oleg Derispaska and links to organised crime. The Australian accepts it has no evidence whatsoever to support the allegation, it withdraws any implication to that effect and unreservedly apologises to Mr Derispaska for any harm he may have suffered as a result of the publication.
IN a report in The Australian yesterday (“States revolt on health plan”, Page 1) NSW Premier Kristina Keneally was quoted as saying state bureaucrats were “livid” over lack of consultation on health reforms, and that their first hint of the reforms was the cancellation of bilateral discussions. In fact, these comments were not made by Ms Keneally but by a senior official who did not wish to be named.
LAST week we said Time magazine had a readership of 30,000, when it should have been 302,000, which is really quite a substantial difference so we apologise for the mistake. Link
Thanks, Steve!
THE headline on an article in The Australian yesterday (“Minister was a lobbyist for homes project”, page 6) may have implied that NSW Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan was employed to lobby on behalf of the Tralee project, near Canberra airport. In fact, as the article made clear, Mr Whan’s work for Endeavour Consulting, before he entered parliament, was not connected with Tralee.
THE headline on an article on Page 4 of yesterday’s edition of The Australian, which read “Bank bonuses OK: Hockey”, could have been read as suggesting opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey favoured extravagant bonuses for bank executives.
In fact, as was clear in the article, Mr Hockey questioned the role of the G20 in regulating pay levels, which he said should be dealt with by the shareholders of companies.
ON June 18, 2009 The Australian published a story, `MYOB tsar link to investor scam’. Readers may have inferred that Mr Bradley Shofer was linked to an investor scam whereby South African investors lost up to $1.5billion.
The Australian accepts that Frankel International (Australia) was not a local arm of the South African company of the same name, that it did not raise any funds or trade while Mr Shofer was a director nor did he receive any financial benefit from it. The Australian apologises unreservedly for any embarrassment or hurt to feelings suffered by Mr Shofer as a result of the story’s publication.
AN article published in The Weekend Australian on July 22, 2006, (MP with stars in his eyes for killers, page 1) referred to former MP Peter Breen’s support for, and feelings towards, two men jailed for their part in the rape and murder of Janine Balding. Any inference that this support was based on a romantic love for the two men was not intended and is incorrect. The Australian apologises to Mr Breen for any distress caused.
ON July 24, 2008, The Diary published an item about Jamie Durie alleging that his services with The Oprah Winfrey Show had been terminated as a result of certain behaviour on his part. The Diary acknowledges that the allegations were unfounded and that Harpo Productions Inc strongly denied the allegations and looks forward to continuing to work with Mr Durie. The Diary apologises to Mr Durie for any hurt and embarrassment caused by the item. Link
LAST Thursday Diary reported Andrew Bourke’s departure from the Seven Network and that he was asked to resign by Seven executives because they blamed him for the result in the Mercedes Corby defamation case. The report was incorrect. Mr Bourke’s decision to resign from the network had been in place for some time and was unconnected with the defamation case. Diary apologises to Mr Bourke and regrets any embarrassment the report caused him. Link (bottom of page)
Thanks, Steve!
ON November 3 and 4, 2005, The Australian published two prominent articles which made serious allegations against Sheik Abdul Salam Zoud on the basis of a speech the articles claimed he delivered. That speech was, in fact, delivered by someone else.
The Australian accepts that these allegations had seriously damaging effects on Sheik Abdul Salam Zoud and his family.
The Australian unreservedly withdraws these allegations and apologises to Sheik Abdul Salam Zoud and his family.
In a report on page 3 of The Australian on April 10, “Girl from the Gong to take on the world”, it was stated that a contestant at the Miss World Australia beauty pageant had said she “believed in injustice and inequality”. This was incorrect. The contestant said: “I believe in justice, equality and integrity.” The Australian apologises for the error.
A HOUSE pictured in a photograph accompanying an article in The Weekend Australian last Saturday (“He made just $3000 in 13 years but accused fraudster finds $5m for bail”, page 1) was incorrectly identified as belonging to Michael John Milne. The occupants of the house in the photograph have no connection with Mr Milne. The Weekend Australian apologises for the error.
AN article about National Indigenous TV appeared in The Weekend Australian on July 28-29, 2007. Any inference in that article that either NITV chief executive Patricia Turner or chairwoman Larissa Behrendt had, in association with the Howard government, attempted to deprive the indigenous community of a satellite television service, is incorrect. The Weekend Australian apologises to Ms Turner and Ms Behrendt for any such inference.
Correction: In an article entitled “Allegiance unsure of Jinchuan in Zinifex fight”, published on page 23 of The Australian on Friday, January 18, Allegiance chairman Tony Howland-Rose was quoted as referring to major shareholder Jinchuan as a “right bunch of cookies.” The quote should have been “a bright bunch of cookies.” The Australian apologises for the error.
Thanks, Andrew!
A SEPARATE article yesterday (“Knox refocuses on value to revive Downer EDI”, page 31) implied that incoming Downer chief executive Geoff Knox had referred to BHP’s performance under former chief executive John Prescott as disastrous. He described it as an era of difficulties for BHP. The Australian also acknowledges that Mr Knox did not refer to a “culture of cover-up” at Downer.
Correction Dec 25, 2007: This post originally and incorrectly carried the logo of the Australian Financial Review. The correction in fact appeared in the Australian. This correction was delayed due to the holidays. Thanks, Steve!
ON Saturday morning, November 24, 2007, Caroline Overington had an encounter with the Labor candidate for Wentworth, Mr George Newhouse, in circumstances that she sincerely regrets. She hopes that she and Mr Newhouse can put this incident behind them and she wishes him all the best.
The Australian regrets any embarrassment Mr Newhouse has endured and also wishes him well.
Overington is a columnist for the paper, and this apology is extremely vague.
A STORY in The Australian yesterday (”Grandmother tells of desperate attempt to save Dean”, page 1) incorrectly stated that Dean Shillingsworth’s father was jailed for bashing the former partner of the boy’s mother. In fact, Paul Shillingsworth was jailed for bashing the former partner of his own mother. The error was made in the production process.
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