ABC managing director David Anderson expected to be questioned over doctored audio scandal

Executives from the public broadcaster will be questioned about the issues surrounding a problematic ABC 7.30 report which aired doctored audio from an Australian military operation.

Former soldier Heston Russell on Seven’s Spotlight program on September 15. Picture: Seven Network.

The review into how and why the ABC introduced fake audio of gunshots into a story about an Australian military operation in Afghanistan will be one of the central interrogations when the public broadcaster’s managing director, David Anderson, faces a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.

Despite a promise that the review’s findings would be ready at the end of October, that deadline has been missed, which means the Senate won’t be able to refer to the details in the report.

However, the scandal still will be one of the main focuses of the hearing on Tuesday, The Australian has been told.

In September the ABC appointed former editorial chief Alan Sunderland to conduct a review into a story that aired on the 7.30 program in 2022.

That review was prompted by a report on the Seven Network’s investigative program Spotlight that highlighted serious shortcomings in the 7.30 broadcast.

Spotlight revealed doctored audio had been inserted into the ABC’s story about the operation conducted by Australian soldiers, including former November platoon commander Heston Russell, in Afghanistan in 2012.

Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman told The Australian on the weekend the problems surrounding the 7.30 broadcast, which was led by reporter Mark Willacy, will be high on the agenda when ABC executives front Senate estimates on Tuesday.

“Coalition senators will be demanding answers about the Heston Russell case,” he said.

“There are serious concerns here which go to the very core of the credibility of ABC reporting.

“How could this have happened? And why is it taking so long to deliver answers on this?”

The Spotlight report found in one of the ABC stories on the military operation an Australian soldier was shown firing six shots at unarmed civilians in Afghanistan.

When the show’s final cut was compared with the raw footage provided to the ABC, only one gunshot could be heard.

In September, after the Spotlight episode, Mr Anderson said a preliminary inspection of the broadcast showed an editing error with the audio, which resulted in the video being subsequently removed from the ABC’s platforms.

Network Seven’s Spotlight reporter Liam Bartlett, left, interviews former soldier Heston Russell on September 15. Picture: Seven Network.

“ABC Legal was sent a letter raising concerns about the audio editing,” he said. “Regrettably, at no point was this letter, or the information in the letter, disseminated to ABC News.”

Mr Coleman told The Australian: “It’s completely implausible that the ABC doesn’t know what happened. It needs to spell out what occurred, in black and white, to senators. If the ABC says it still doesn’t know what has happened, this will reflect very poorly on the credibility of its leadership team.”

ABC news director Justin Stevens said at a Melbourne Press Club luncheon in September the problems with the footage “shouldn’t have occurred”.

The ABC said it had requested the independent review be delivered by the end of October and recommendations from it would be made public. When The Australian contacted the ABC on Sunday to inquire about when the report would be finished and made public, a spokeswoman declined to comment.

Mr Sunderland also was asked when the review would be handed down and he said: “The review is in the process of being finalised.”

ABC executives also are expected to be questioned on the broadcaster’s growing expenditure as its audiences are declining.