Cash-for-comment: John Laws And 2ue Are At It Again
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday December 5, 2003
Three years after the cash-for-comment scandal, the Australian Broadcasting Authority has again found 2UE's John Laws program guilty of failing to reveal sponsorship agreements.
The station had ``repeatedly" failed to adequately disclose on air Laws's arrangements with Telstra and NRMA Insurance, the watchdog said. 2UE will now be subject to random spot checks and possibly a big fine.
After a 13-month investigation, the ABA ruled that 2UE had breached its licence 25 times between July 29, 2002, and March 20, 2003, including six breaches of the disclosure requirements it had imposed after the cash-for-comment inquiry in 2000.
Calling the breaches serious, the ABA said yesterday that it would refer them to the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions. If the DPP decides to prosecute and the court finds 2UE guilty of all 25 breaches, it could be fined $1.4 million.
Because it was a second offence, the Laws program would be monitored independently to ensure that it complied with its disclosure obligations. The random checks will begin in January and continue for a year.
``The patchy and inconsistent degree of compliance does not engender confidence that the licensee is able to ensure compliance in the future," the ABA said. Its chief, Professor David Flint, said: ``It is the wish and expectation of the ABA that we can now rule a line under this."
Laws's agent, John Fordham, said 2UE would not comment on the findings.
Tony Bell, managing director of Southern Cross Broadcasting, which owns 2UE, described the breaches as trivial and said the company would make representations to that effect to the DPP.
``There has been no intention to conceal any information. It was just simply a minor technicality where John Laws didn't use the exact wording required."
Mr Bell said Southern Cross would comply with the independent monitoring requirement.
John Singleton, owner of 2UE's arch-rival, 2GB, said that Southern Cross had pulled out of a resource-sharing deal between the two stations because it risked losing its licence over the matter. ``I've been around long enough to think that's the real reason. The licence is now in danger of being suspended and there's criminal charges pending against the licensee." (Report Page 2)
Telstra pays Laws between $100,000 and $500,000 to personally endorse the company. The ABA found that six times between November 5, 2002 and March 20, 2003, Laws did not reveal on air this ``major" sponsorship arrangement.
He had also failed on other occasions to disclose the arrangement when discussing Telstra-related matters, including Meg Lees's resignation from the Democrats, the Telstra share price, the full sale of Telstra, and Telstra regional services.
Similarly, Laws had not disclosed his relationship with NRMA Insurance when discussing the organisation on air with callers and with NRMA representatives, the ABA found.
NO DISCLOSURE
John Laws breached the 2UE licence by not disclosing his NRMA and Telstra sponsorship deals on these occasions:July 29, 2002 Meg Lees's resignation from the Democrats and the Telstra sale
August 16, 2002 Estens inquiry and the full sale of Telstra
October 2, 2002 Telstra's regional services
October 10, 2002 Interview with Simon Crean, then Labor leader
October 16, 2002 Interview with Rick Jackson, NRMA Insurance
October 18, 2002 Caller discusses NRMA meeting
October 23, 2002 Interview with Ross Turnbull, NRMA
November 19, 2002 Comment on Telstra share fall
February 28, 2003 Interview with Peter Costello, in which the Telstra share price is discussed
March 4, 2003 Discussion of developments at NRMA Ltd
John Laws also breached 2UE's licence by disclosing sponsorship deals inadequately on 15 other occasions between August 2002 and March 2003.
© 2003 Sydney Morning Herald
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