The Wimpout - love the colour scheme!

[Antisocial Loser Party]

"The ABC, along with other national media, ..."

[Socialise the blame?]

"...has been covering an important story ..."

['Covering' is a rather generous description of it!]

"...about recent asylum seeker boats being turned around and
investigating what occurred on board those boats".

[What investigation? They just printed the claims]

"There have been allegations from asylum seekers that Navy personnel
mistreated and caused injury to some of them – allegations that have
been strongly denied. This is an important story and the ABC makes no
apologies for covering it".

[No apologies. Got it]

"In the course of carrying out its work, the ABC’s own reporting has
come under criticism. It is important to be clear about how we have gone
about covering this story".

[Only if you're wimping out. How about saying 'We stuffed up and will do
the job properly next time?]

"Claims of mistreatment by the Australian military are very serious and
a responsible media, acting in the public interest, will need to seek an
official response and pursue the truth of the claims. This is exactly
what the ABC has done throughout".

[That doesn't mean that you have to accept the claims]

"Asking questions and seeking evidence is in no way disrespectful of
such important institutions".

[Publically assuming guilt is not the same as asking]

"It is because these institutions are trusted and important that any
allegations concerning them are investigated".

[Indeed. How about some *investigation* then?]

"Allegations by asylum seekers of mistreatment were widely reported
across the Australian media in early January".

[Started by the ABC]

"The Navy denied the allegations but provided no further information,
following the current policy of providing no details of current
operations involving asylum seekers at sea".

[No reason to assume guilt]

Rest ignored ... no sign of a credible apology anywhere...

"Subsequently, the video obtained exclusively by the ABC, showing asylum
seekers with burns, along with reports that Indonesian police were
investigating the matter, raised further important questions. These
include: how did the injuries occur, were they linked to the asylum
seeker claims of mistreatment or were they obtained as a result of
actions or activity whilst under the control of the Australian Navy or
some other series of events? The video also established that the
injuries were real. This was a significant development.

The ABC’s initial reports on the video said that the vision appeared to
support the asylum seekers’ claims. That’s because it was the first
concrete evidence that the injuries had occurred. What the video did not
do was establish how those injuries occurred.

The wording around the ABC’s initial reporting needed to be more precise
on that point. We regret if our reporting led anyone to mistakenly
assume that the ABC supported the asylum seekers’ claims. The ABC has
always presented the allegations as just that – claims worthy of further
investigation.

Those personnel in a position to provide their own description or
explanation of what happened on board the vessel under Navy control have
not been in a position to resolve the uncertainty because of the ban on
discussing operational detail.

Nevertheless, media outlets like the ABC have continued to undertake
further investigation, interviews and reporting in an effort to come to
a full understanding of what went on.

The ABC has not attempted to play judge and jury on this matter. We have
reported the asylum seeker claims, broadcast the video showing burns and
consistently sought more detail from witnesses and officials.

The release of the video, and asking further questions in the light of
it, was in the public interest and remains so. Our journalists will
continue to investigate and cover this story, and we will continue to
urge Australian authorities and the Government to disclose more to the
Australian public about the events on board those boats.

Our intention is clear: to seek the truth on a matter of public
importance, not to pre-judge any matters.

Mark Scott, Managing Director, and Kate Torney, Director News"

http://about.abc.net.au/press-releases/abc-statement/




--
"Socialism or Communism; the first is suicide, the second murder. In the
end you have a dead body either way" - Ayn Rand

Gillard...
"I am not the signatory to the documents that incorporated this
association".
http://blogs.news.com.au/images/uploads/attorney_thumb.png

Labor's ineptitude charted:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/boat-arrivals-by-year-graph/4694210

Flannery...
"we are plugged into Gaia aren't we?"

Labor's legacy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lePrBUHihKI

Pickering...
"You could put an ALP badge on a chimpanzee and the people of Canberra
would vote for it"

Labor's preference to Gillard...
"It is to do everything I *physically* can to stop Mr Abbott becoming
the next prime minister of Australia..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PguhkVG49To

Milne...
"PM must ROOT out sexism in ALP"
http://twitter.com/aus_politics/status/257272797829685249

"Mr Blewitt will be registered owner of the unit you are purchasing".
http://www.smh.com.au/national/pms-exboyfriend-had-major-role-in-buying-unit-in-name-of-union-crony-20121009-27bcp.html


Sir Isaac Newton...
"I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men"

Tanner...
"When I joined the Labor Party people joined Labor to change the world.
Now they join Labor to run the world".

Joyce...
"It was the prime minister herself who, of her own volition, decided to
go out and grab the wheelie bin and put it back in the kitchen"

Carbon Tax for Dummies:
"It's an emissions trading scheme with a fixed price"

Climate Change for Dummies:
http://www.climate4you.com/images/VostokTemp0-420000%20BP.gif

"Don't write crap. Can't be that hard. And when you have written
complete crap, then I think you should correct it" - Julia Gillard
http://tinyurl.com/Gillard4Sale

Labor's cup runneth over...
http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/gammasquadtoiletcup.jpg

#auspol #ausdebate