Prosecution of TVNZ no gag—dept

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 7

Prosecution of TVNZ no gag—dept

By

DEBORAH MCPHERSON

The Social Welfare Department is not trying to stifle public debate on child abuse, says a representative of the Crown Solicitor’s office, Mr David Saunders.

He was defending the department’s sanction of a prosecution against Television New Zealand for its "Frontline” programme on child abuse, which sparked an internal inquiry into Christchurch Hospital’s Ward 24. “There are ways of investigating or reporting stories using pseudonyms, without publishing details which will lead to the identification of the child,” Mr Saunders said yesterday. TVNZ was likely to face more than one charge of breaching the Children and Young Persons Act, for showing the families in the cases handled by Ward 24 and allowing discussion of the cases on more than one occasion. The act protected the

child by making it an offence to publish or report anything that could lead to his or her identification.

The Canterbury Area Health Board is unlikely to follow the Social Welfare Department’s lead in prosecuting Television New Zealand, says its chairman, Mr Tom Grigg. The board approved the department’s decision, but its legal advisers had recommended against prosecution.

"Our advisers said there was not much point in spending money on something that was not for us to do.” The department was also bound by section 62 of the Area Health Board Act, which gave patient confidentiality. Mr Grigg was adamant the board would not apologise or compensate the families in the cases.

“Having read the judgment there is no way that we are prepared to consider an apology or compensation,” he said.