Regret the Error » australian

When allegations become evidence

Craig Silverman — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:19 +0000

A REPORT published on The Australian’s website on October 17 (“Australia’s envoy `not named’ for war crimes”) reported that the UN panel of experts had found there “was credible evidence that both the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam were guilty of war crimes”. The Australian accepts that the UN report refers to “credible allegations” of war crimes rather than “credible evidence”. This correction arises from a settlement arranged by the Australian Press Council.

Note the headline

Craig Silverman — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:00:05 +0000

AN article by Barry Cohen in The Australian yesterday (“The experts have got it wrong: Gillard was not disloyal to Rudd”, Page 14) stated that Kevin Rudd was 34 in 1998. In fact, he was 41. And the special minister of state cited should have been Joe Ludwig, not John Faulkner.

The Zimbabwean ambassador did not strip to her underwear

Craig Silverman — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:00:13 +0000

AN item published in The Australian on November 15 (Strewth, “Losing the threads'', page 13) referred to a report in The Zimbabwe Guardian that Jacqueline Zwambila, the Zimbabwean ambassador to Australia, stripped to her underwear in front of three male embassy officials. Ms Zwambila denies the allegations, and a governmental investigation in Zimbabwe has cleared her of any misconduct charges. The Australian apologises to Ms Zwambila.

Not a contractor, not her quotes

Craig Silverman — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:00:12 +0000

A REPORT in The Australian on Thursday ("Boat horror kills up to 50'', page 1) incorrectly attributed quotes to Allison Millcock, as a contractor with the Shire of Christmas Island. Ms Millcock is not a contractor for the shire. The comments describing the tragedy as "bloody carnage'' and attacking people-smugglers as "bastards'' should have been attributed to another local on the island.

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:00:38 +0000

The story "Ageing population won't burden system'' last week incorrectly stated the 1991-92 and current expenditure on health care as $8 billion and $10bn. It should have read 8 and 10 per cent.

Death by media

Craig Silverman — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:37 +0000

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.

Choose your pseudonyms wisely

Craig Silverman — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:00:30 +0000

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.

Apology

Craig Silverman — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:00:22 +0000

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.

Mistaken diagnosis

Craig Silverman — Tue, 18 May 2010 12:00:10 +0000

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.

Apology

Craig Silverman — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:00:28 +0000

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.

Who’s livid now?

Craig Silverman — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:32 +0000

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.

Fuzzy numbers etc.

Craig Silverman — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:00:32 +0000

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 head doesn’t match the body

Craig Silverman — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:22 +0000

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 head doesn’t match the body

Craig Silverman — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:23 +0000

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.

Apology

Craig Silverman — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:00:47 +0000

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.