Adjudication No. 1111 (March 2001)

Two newspaper articles which gave offence to a number of readers led to a complaint to the Australian Press Council.

The first article, on page 9 of The Sunday Telegraph of 31 December 2000, reported that Waverley Council was critical of British tourists for littering Bondi Beach with takeaway food wrappers and drink containers.

The article carried the headline and sub-heading: Filthy Poms - Mayor blames tourists for Bondi rubbish.

The Council finds that the news story was a straight report of a local Council complaint, and that the heading, Filthy Poms, was within the newspaper's reasonable rights. However, the heading was plainly going to be offensive to many readers, was exaggerated and ill-advised and brought no credit to the paper. The paper subsequently published letters critical of the headline.

On 3 January this year, The Daily Telegraph ran on page 25 a satirical piece on British tourists by regular columnist Michael Bodey, who claimed "a tide of anti-English sentiment was rising in Sydney".

Mr Bodey says his column piece was intended as humour - "in the spirit of the light-hearted to and fro we enjoy with the English" - and that no malice was involved.

That was not the view taken by some British readers. They objected to what he wrote, found no humour in it, and sent letters to the editor saying so. A number of these letters were published by The Daily Telegraph.

The complaint dealt with by the Press Council was from Norman Palmer, of Mosman.

He complained that both articles were "extreme examples of racial discrimination, as well as being racially abusive, insulting, offensive and derogatory."

He sets out: "I am British, therefore I feel insulted."

The Press Council accepts that Mr Palmer and many other readers were offended. But that in itself is not a basis for an adjudication condemning the newspaper.

It does not find that criticising the behaviour of some British tourists constitutes racial discrimination.

The Press Council has consistently held that by-line writers are entitled to express their views, however strongly, and that strong statements will evoke strong reactions.

The newspaper gave adequate space to readers who sent letters of complaint. This was its duty, and it performed it.

The complaint is dismissed.

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