Press Council Adjudication
The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published in print on 4 December 2024 in The Daily Telegraph headed 'To keep peace at home, Labor backs Hamas'.
The article reported that Penny Wong, the Minister for Foreign Affairs 'is set to strengthen Australia's support for a two-state-solution in the Middle East by backing a
United Nations vote calling for an 'irreversible pathway' to the measure after abstaining in recent years, in a move the Coalition claims will further open a rift with Israel'.
The article attributed comments that the 'Albanese government voting for the measure in the UN after abstaining previously was a play for domestic votes', to the former ambassador to Israel Senator Dave Sharma.
The article went on to quote Senator Sharma as saying: 'These potential changes in Australia's UN voting pattern are against our national interests. They will do nothing to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East' and 'All they do is reward Hamas for its terrorist acts. And they further damage Australia's relations with an important partner in the
Middle East, Israel. Labor is seeking to placate domestic constituencies, rather than putting Australia's national interests first.'
In response to a complaint received, the Council asked the publication to comment on whether the article complied with the Council's Standards of Practice, which require publications to take reasonable steps to ensure that factual material is accurate and not misleading (General Principle 1); to ensure that factual material is presented with reasonable fairness and balance and to ensure that writers' expressions of opinion are not based on significantly inaccurate factual material or omission of key facts (General Principle 3).
The Council noted that the complaint raised concerns that the headline does not support the tenor of the article and that it is editorial opinion to state that 'Labor backs Hamas'.
In response, the publication said that in the article, Senator Sharma criticised the Albanese government for backing a UN resolution that he claims rewards the terrorist organisation Hamas for its acts of terrorism.
The publication said that in this context, the headline reflects the opinion of Senator Sharma and readers would view the headline as accurately reflecting the senator's view.
The publication also said that readers can discern the difference between an opposition senators criticism of government decision-making, as opposed to the editorial direction of the publisher.
Conclusion
The Council recognises the limitations of headlines to reasonably reflect the tenor of an article.
The Council also recognises that what constitutes reasonable steps to ensure factual material is accurate and not misleading may vary in the circumstances.
In relation to this, the Council considers that publications need to take great care in order to satisfy the reasonable steps standard in the context of heightened community sensitivities around the Israel/Palestine conflict and on matters of significant public interest.
In the absence of inverted commas to signify a paraphrase or a quote, the Council considers the headline is presented as statement of fact with the clear implication being that the Labor government is 'backing' Hamas.
The Council considers that the headline goes beyond what was said by Senator Sharma in his criticisms of the government support for a two-state-solution in the Middle East.
Accordingly, the Council concludes the publication failed to take reasonable steps to ensure factual material is accurate and not misleading in breach of General Principle 1.
In noting the complaint is limited to the headline, the Council finds no breach of General Principle 3.
For the full Adjudication, see: https://www.presscouncil.org.au/document/1854-complainant
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