BACK ON THE AIR

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20689, 27 December 1938, Page 9

BACK ON THE AIR

LABOUR RADIO STATION

APOLOGY FROM THE DIRECTORS THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) SYDNEY, Dec. 26 The Trades and Labour Council’s broadcasting station 2KY reappeared on the air at 7 p4n. on Saturday with official sanction. The occasion was marked by a brief speech by the secretary, Mr R. King, M.L.C., who had made a dramatic flight to Adelaide, where he concluded peace with the Postmaster-General, Mr A. G. Cameron, on Friday. Mr King read an apology from the directors of the station for statements broadcast, which they acknowledged to have been untrue, concerning recent actions of the Government in the pig Iron dispute at Port Kembla, and ‘he clash between the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr H. V. Thorby, and the Leader of the Opposition. Mr J. Curtin. Mr King thanked the pubiic and tun daily press for aiding them in their hour of trial and difficulty. He assured the authorities that the Labour Council's desire was to broadcast the truth and avoid giving offence, but he insisted that there must be freedom of speech on the air as well as in the press. He added facetiously: “ We were the first commercial station on the air and, strangely enough, we were the first off the air/*

An apology was published yesterday morning, in the Labour paper, Daily News, in which the admission wis made that statements had been broadcast from 2KY which were untrue an J which the person making them should have known were untrue.