ABC apologises over breakfast presenter Robbie Buck’s false claim Rupert Murdoch funds IPA

The ABC has been forced to issue a correction after a radio host falsely claimed the IPA was funded by Rupert Murdoch.

ABC TV presenter Robbie Buck. Picture: Christian Gilles

The ABC has apologised after a prominent breakfast radio presenter falsely claimed the Institute of Public Affairs think tank was funded by Rupert Murdoch.

In an April segment discussing a report in The Daily Telegraph, ABC Radio Sydney host Robbie Buck incorrectly stated that Mr Murdoch – the executive chairman of News Corp, the publisher of The Australian – had funded the IPA.

“ABC Radio Sydney has been unable to provide any evidence to support the statement that Rupert Murdoch funds the IPA; therefore this statement was not in keeping with the ABC’s accuracy standards,” the public broadcaster said in a statement published on Thursday.

In documentation seen by The Australian it also revealed the matter had been discussed with the breakfast presenter.

“This matter has been discussed with the program team including presenter Robbie Buck,” ABC’s investigations manager at audience and consumer affairs Denise Musto wrote.

The issue arose during a discussion of a Telegraph story titled “Wokefest” written by the newspaper’s political editor James Morrow which covered the proposed changes to the national school curriculum.

“It’s unfortunate for The Daily Telegraph that their story on the front page, and it’s, when I say it’s a story, really they’ve just got somebody for the Institute of Public Affairs, the IPA which is funded by Rupert Murdoch and Gina Rinehart and is basically just a think tank but it’s really for pushing agendas I guess,” Buck said at the time.

The IPA’s director of communications Evan Mulholland said the information reported by Buck was inaccurate and he was pleased to see the ABC correct the record. “The IPA are proudly funded by our 7000 members around Australia who support freedom, democracy and the Australian way of life,” he said.

“The ABC’s willingness to give airtime to Twitter conspiracy theories shows it is a biased staff-run collective with no one in charge,” Mr Mulholland said.

The ABC did not respond to a request for comment.