The Press Council has considered a complaint about articles in February 2013 reporting concerns of dredging in Gladstone Harbour and the effectiveness of environmental monitoring by Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC). GPC said the articles inaccurately and unfairly blamed harbour dredging for the sickness and death of marine life. It also complained about an allegation of breaches of its audit requirements, which it said was mentioned only briefly in a lengthy interview with its chief executive, and of which it was subsequently cleared by a Departmental investigation.
The publication said all the articles reported flooding as a possible cause of the harm to marine life, and it had reported comments from a range of sources on the issue. It said it had accurately and fairly reported claims about the audit requirements, GPC’s rejection of the claims, and the Federal Minister’s eventual endorsement of that rejection.
The Council decided the publication took reasonable steps to ensure accuracy and fairness, both in relation to reporting the various claims about effects of dredging on marine life, and the allegation about audit breaches. The complaint was not upheld.