Adjudication No. 1183 (November 2002)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Dr James Saleam against New Idea concerning a "Special Report" by Debi Marshall in its 23 March edition.

The report referred to the activities of David Palmer, described as head of the National Socialist Defenders Aryan People and as "Wizard" of an Australian chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, and his use of the Internet to recruit people to his organisations.

The report contains a number of inflammatory statements by Mr Palmer on a range of issues including refugees and gays. He also asserts that he uses the Internet for recruitment purposes: "We have access to people now we previously couldn't get to, and that's good for us".

The report also cites information about the presence of a number of racist sites on the Internet from Benseon Apple, Director of Research at Melbourne's B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission, a Jewish anti-racism organisation.

Dr Saleam, who stated that he had made similar complaints to the Council in the past, claimed that the report, in its references to Mr Palmer, his organizations and claimed activities, breached Council principles by failing to check for accuracy, was harmfully inaccurate, presented unconfirmed reports and misrepresented relevant facts.

However, documents submitted by Dr Saleam in support of his complaint contained material which described Palmer and his activities in terms similar to those used in the report.

New Idea asserted that the purpose of the report was to inform its readers "of the Internet's employment as a mechanism for dissemination and recruitment by hate groups", and that it had used David Palmer and his group as "the featured example".

The Press Council considers that the report appropriately identifies David Palmer as the source of the information it presents and that its claim of the Internet being used to recruit members for racist groups is clearly endorsed by the statements of Mr Palmer.

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