Protests at ABC urge Four Corners confidentiality

Protesters gathered at ABC studios in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth yesterday morning amid fears the broadcaster would reveal its confidential sources for a Four Corners program, Guardian Australia reported.

Western Australian police have applied through the courts for footage of climate change protesters via the ‘Order to Produce’ provisions of the WA Criminal Investigations Act. The law compels organisations to comply.

MEAA and ABC staff have urged the broadcaster not to hand over footage. ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, said they “never have and never will” reveal their sources but confirmed in Senate Estimates this week they were in negotiations with the police about what they might give them while still protecting those sources.

Disrupt Burrup Hub’s media adviser Jesse Noakes, who facdes trial on November 6, “I personally received undertakings from the ABC in relation to multiple sources who requested and received specific guarantees they would not be identified as a precondition for their participation in events filmed by Four Corners.

“Should the ABC surrender any Four Corners footage to WA police, if any of these people face legal liability or criminal prosecution that will be entirely on the ABC – I hope the ABC management appreciate the full implications of that.”

Photo: Disrupt Burrup Hub