Peter V’landys accuses ABC of ‘ambush’ in defamation case over 7.30 report

Peter V’landys claims a 7.30 segment was edited to portray him as a person who ‘callously permitted the wholesale slaughter’ of horses.

A still from the ABC’s 7.30 program featuring an interview with Racing NSW CEO Peter V'landys. Picture: ABC

Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys was “ambushed” by an ABC 7.30 segment which he claims was edited to portray him as a person who “callously permitted the wholesale slaughter” of horses, a court has heard.

Mr V'landys, the chief executive of Racing NSW and Australian Rugby League Commission chairman, is suing the ABC and journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna for defamation in the Federal Court over an exposé aired on 7.30 last year.

Mr V’landys is seeking aggravated damages over the segment ‘The Final Race’, which exposed disturbing details of thoroughbred racehorses being violently killed in knackeries in NSW and Queensland.

The segment aired on October 17 last year, just two days before The Everest at Randwick, the highlight of Sydney’s spring racing carnival.

The vision, obtained during a two-year investigation, showed graphic footage of horses being kicked, dragged, shocked, bolted through the head and inhumanely slaughtered at an abattoir in Caboolture, north of Brisbane.

Barrister Bruce McClintock SC, appearing for Mr V’landys, told the court on Monday that the racing chief would seek aggravated damages on the basis that the ABC had “ambushed” Mr V’landys.

Mr McClintock told the court that Meldrum-Hanna “repeatedly” failed to show Mr V’landys the undercover footage which was later used in the program, despite the racing chief’s multiple requests to view the videos.

The segment defamed Mr V’landys because it brought his reputation into disrepute, as it depicted him as someone who had ignored the cruelty to which thoroughbred horses were being subjected, Mr McClintock said.

“The ABC ambushed my client when they came to broadcast. They intercut footage (of horses being killed) with the footage of my client and in doing so showed my client, contrary to the fact, to be a liar.”

Mr V’landys said he agreed to an interview in ‘good faith’. Picture: Toby Zerna

Mr V’landys has previously said he appeared in the segment to respond to the allegations on behalf of Racing NSW and had agreed to be interviewed in “good faith”.

The national broadcaster, however, allegedly did not disclose to Mr V’landys that it had obtained the footage before he fronted the program, and told 7.30 “zero per cent” of horses in NSW were being sent to knackeries.

“It was a deliberate ambush,” Mr McClintock said. “This footage was delivered to make my client look bad.”

Lawyers for Mr V’landys have also argued that the segment implied he was lying when he said that Racing NSW “cared about the welfare” of horses and took adequate steps to “protect their welfare”.

Barrister Clarrisa Amato, appearing for the ABC, said the “bigger problem” in Mr V’landys’s defamation case was that he had never seen the episode of 7.30 he is suing over.

“He’s claiming damages for hurt feelings when he’s never seen the program,” she said.

However, Mr McClintock said even though Mr V’landys hadn’t yet watched the episode, he was “very, very aware” of its content.

He said the footage would be aired while Mr V’landys is in the witness box in September so Justice Michael Wigney can observe Mr V’landys’s reaction. It would also add a “degree of verisimilitude”, Mr McClintock said.

Documents filed with the court state Mr V’landys was “greatly injured” by the program and that the ABC had brought his reputation into public disrepute, ridicule and contempt.

In the interview, the racing boss said he had no knowledge of horses being sent to knackeries in NSW, despite the ABC’s investigation identifying at least 14 horses which had been sent to knackeries in the state.

Racing NSW later explained in a statement that 12 of those horses had predominantly lived interstate and were beyond its jurisdiction.

The governing body said it prohibited the slaughter of industry horses in knackeries if the animal had predominantly lived in NSW.

The matter will return to court on September 23.