The ABC has pulled apart a story it published on corporate tax by economics correspondent Emma Alberici, flagging nine errors or factual omissions in the report.
The government-funded media outfit submitted documents to a parliamentary committee yesterday conceding there were numerous “misleading” elements in Alberici’s story, according to Fairfax.
One of the misleading elements was the headline, “Tax-free billions: Australia’s largest companies haven’t paid corporate tax in three years”, which Alberici did not write, according to the ABC.
It conceded the top five companies, along with the majority of the top 10 (by market capitalisation) have paid their dues in corporate tax.
Furthermore, a supporting analysis story by Alberici showed a “lack of impartiality”, the ABC admitted.
You can read an updated version of Alberici’s analysis piece here.
The media company’s admissions come as shots were fired by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, with the airline named in Alberici’s report as one of the companies avoiding tax payments.
In an open letter to managing director Michelle Guthrie, Joyce accused the ABC of “slanted analysis” and “poor reporting”, according to The Guardian.
“Any reasonable person consuming the ABC’s coverage would incorrectly be led to believe that Qantas (along with other large corporations) was in some way shirking its tax responsibilities and not contributing to the Australian economy,” the letter read.
“This could not be further from the truth.”
It also comes after Guthrie admitted at a Senate committee hearing in February that Alberici’s stories weren’t up to scratch, and that the ABC had “made mistakes”.
