Orange Land Council accuses ABC of misleading police report coverage

The public broadcaster omitted key details about the chair of an Indigenous group it said had been the subject of police reports, in an article prompting multiple complaints | WATCH CCTV

CCTV vision of a verbal stoush between former OLALC board member Danielle Annesley and council chair Jamie Newman at the Orange Bowling Club which has become the subject of a complaint against the ABC on how it reported the matter.

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An Aboriginal land council that enraged opponents of the $1.3bn Blayney goldmine has demanded an apology from the ABC for a story that “materially misleads the audience” and misrepresented a police report against its chairman.

The Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council has accused the ABC of breaching its own guidelines in a June 18 report about a tense meeting of its members.

In that story, the ABC said the land council’s chairman, Jamie Newman, was the subject of multiple complaints to police for his behaviour at that meeting, without also reporting what police had told them – that there was nothing to investigate.

In an email to the land council on July 1, a spokesperson for NSW police said it told the ABC at the time and in writing that they were not investigating Mr Newman.

“Police did attend and take a report; however, no offences were committed and there is no ongoing investigation,” the email quoted the police response to the ABC’s query as saying.

In one of two lengthy complaints to the ABC ombudsman, the land council claimed this was a material fact that should have been reported.

The ABC vowed to review its editorial policies in November after reviewing an “editing error in the audio” of a 2022 article in which gunshot sounds were edited into video footage of commandos flying over Afghanistan.

However, it was again accused of misleading readers when a neighbour of ABC personality Myf Warhurst said the public broadcaster released a “one-sided” journalistic “hit job” detailing her alleged assault of Warhurst’s then-partner Brian Steendyk.

Mr Newman told The Australian the ABC “crossed a line and were biased, inaccurate and misleading”.

“We have made formal complaints to the ABC Ombudsman about the stories,” he said.

“Recent stories by the ABC were misleading, inaccurate, lacking impartiality and in breach of the ABC’s Code of Practice and Editorial Guidelines. The ABC published enormously damaging allegations that have been found to be baseless. The journalist concerned did not adequately check the substance and credibility of these allegations before publishing them. The ABC stories caused great distress to members of the Orange Aboriginal community with some land council staff being abused in the street and the CEO and her family receiving threats that caused them to briefly leave town.”

The land council’s dispute with the ABC dates back years, to the early days of the approvals process for Regis Resources’ proposed mine near Blayney, but escalated to the ABC Ombudsman after the June 18 report.

In it, the ABC published the ­allegations of former land council board member Danielle Annesley. “Nowhere does the article state that Jamie Newman was ‘under investigation or suspicion’,” an ABC spokesperson said. “It says: ‘Police have confirmed three people lodged reports against Mr Newman after the May 15 meeting, including Ms Annesley’.”

“The Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council is one of the largest land councils in NSW and an important body. The serious allegations … made relating to its conduct and governance are worthy of public scrutiny,” they said.

In the article from June detailing the claims against Mr Newman, CCTV footage from a land council meeting purports to show “an alleged verbal stoush between … Annesley and council chair Jamie Newman”. It was also criticised by the land council for its “misleading” presentation.

A caption suggested footage was supplied by the venue – Orange City Bowling Club. The club’s general manager denied ever providing the footage.

“At no point has Orange City Bowling Club provided CCTV footage to the ABC in relation to a matter that occurred at the club on the 15th May, 2025,” he said.

“The footage was provided to one member of the meeting who claimed to have been assaulted by another member of the OLALC. The footage was requested by several other members of the OLALC (to) which we stated that the only way we could release footage is if it was requested by the police or a solicitor.”

The complaint letter by land council chief executive Annette Steele said selective editing of the footage “makes the story misleading and lacking impartiality”.

“The portion of the footage aired by the ABC only shows Mr Newman’s reaction to Ms Annesley. However, the complete footage shows Ms Annesley approaching Mr Newman, aggressively moving her face close to his and stepping into his way as he was trying to remove himself from the situation,” she wrote.

“By only presenting a portion of the footage, the context of Mr Newman’s reaction was removed in a way that materially misleads the audience.

“The journalist’s failure to mention that no offences were committed (by Mr Newman) and no investigation was taking place omitted material facts of significance to the story.

“Without this context, the story gives the impression that OLALC chairman Jamie Newman may have committed an offence that warranted three police reports. However, no such offence was committed and the police indicated they only received a single report. Although the journalist was made aware of these facts, she wilfully chose not to report them, misleading her readers and unfairly damaging the reputations of Mr Newman and OLALC.”

After The Australian sent questions to the ABC, an editor’s note was amended to the article noting: “The credit for the video embedded in this article has been corrected to reflect it was supplied by a third party.”

“The video footage came from the Orange Bowling Club but was not supplied to the ABC by the club,” an ABC spokesperson said. “The footage was not selectively edited. The relevant section of footage was slowed down to make it clearer for viewers.

“The video is not the sole proof of a verbal confrontation. The ABC also obtained three on-the-record eyewitness accounts. Jamie Newman confirmed he was in a confrontation in his interview with the ABC and his responses were included in the article.”

The land council requested an apology and for a First Nations journalist to be assigned any future stories reporting on Indigenous affairs in the region.

The ABC said the two complaints were under investigation.

The ABC last October took legal action against the land council, hauling it before the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal to demand documents on why it abandoned its opposition to the Blayney goldmine. Wiradyuri elders at the time said the admission would reveal confidential traditional knowledge.

Mr Newman told The Australian the matter was later settled, with the ABC receiving the sought documents.

It followed an article that included sources from within the land council questioning its shift from opposition to neutrality on the project, saying it was “quite ­astounding” and “doesn’t pass the pub test”.

“It’s not about culture, it’s not about heritage, it’s all about the ‘walang’ – the money,” a former member was quoted as saying.

The land council has repeatedly denied soliciting or receiving any financial incentive from mine developer Regis Resources.

Accusations of financial malfeasance within the land council were amplified by the dissident Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, which wrote in March last year to then-Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney and claimed the land council had sought “financial support” from Regis.

By April, 47 complainants – including 22 of the land council’s 220 members – had signed a no-confidence petition against senior leadership, alleging nepotism and conflicts of interest in the organisation, which they argued lacked transparency and accountability.

The land council in May announced it had commissioned an external review of its operations, which cleared it of any wrongdoing.