Adjudication No. 1370  (adjudicated October 2007)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint brought by Dr James Saleam against the Daily Telegraph arising from an article published on 3 March under the headline Bikini nazis hit the beach and stir the pot.

The report referred to a video advertisement posted on the website of the Australia First party which showed a woman in a burqa and a bikini being harassed on the beach by an unidentified man of "Middle Eastern appearance".

When asked about the video, Dr Saleam, who is head of the Australia First party, refused to comment but later wrote a letter to the editor about the report.The letter was not published.

Dr Saleam objected to the description of him in the article as a "former neo-Nazi" and of his party as "white supremacist". He further complained that the headline was incorrect as the only "Nazi" cited in the article seemed to be him; that it was wrong to say that Australia First wanted to use Cronulla riots to spark a wave of white nationalism; and that the paper had misrepresented or suppressed relevant facts in its reference to him as being "convicted of organising a shotgun attack on a black politician".

There has been a series of complaints brought by Dr Saleam against various publications dating back to 1996 that have been adjudicated by the Press Council concerning his politics and his criminal conviction and the Council has previously ruled that the press is entitled to report on his activities. It can find nothing in the report that breaches its principles.

Following this latest complaint the Daily Telegraph composed a clarification that included Dr Saleam's denial that he was a "former neo-Nazi" and a "white supremacist." Dr Saleam agreed to the wording of the clarification but three months later the paper withdrew the offer to publish it. It is regrettable that the paper did not give Dr Saleam an opportunity to respond.

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