Adjudication No. 1303  (adjudicated December 2005)

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint brought by Dr James Saleam against The Australian for its description of the complainant as a 'prominent neo-Nazi' in two articles published by the paper. The complainant felt he had been unfairly labelled by the newspaper.

The two articles, Top Academic Accused of Neo-Nazi Links and Racist Professor Cautioned But Launches New Attack, and published respectively in the 20 July and 21 July editions of the paper, dealt mainly with a Macquarie University law professor and his views on the IQ and crime rate of black Africans. The complainant was mentioned in the context of an association with 'the extremist Patriotic Youth League'.

The complainant wrote a letter to the editor in response to each of the articles but neither letter was published. The paper said that this was because the letters were "unnecessarily abusive". The Council believes that if the letters had been couched in more moderate terms, one may well have been published and the matter resolved.

In the context of the circumstances of the case and the background information furnished by the paper in response to the allegations, the Press Council finds the paper did not act unreasonably.

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