Gazette News cleared by AEC over Coalition complaint
Gazette News has been cleared over what its CEO calls a “nasty political stunt” by Coalition Senator Jane Hume, who complained to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) in relation to the start-up’s coverage of independent political candidates.
While Hume described Gazette News to the Nine papers as a “highly sophisticated domestic disinformation campaign bankrolled by Climate 200 and boosted by teal MPs and candidates” and a “clear, calculated attempt to manipulate voters”, the AEC in a statement said it did not consider the material to be “electoral matter” and subsequently it didn’t require electoral authorisation.
“It should also be noted that electoral matter is defined by the Electoral Act to exclude the reporting of news, presenting of current affairs, or any genuine editorial content in news media,” the statement said.
“Additionally, there is no evidence at this stage that this organisation has incurred electoral expenditure that would require it to register as a financial disclosure entity with the AEC.”
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Following Crikey reporting on Gazette’s founding and its investors, Hume’s office took issue with Gazette paying to boost stories about independent political candidates, while being funded by investors that had contributed significant amounts to the Simon Holmes à Court-backed Climate 200.
Two of Gazette News’ three major benefactors, venture capitalist James Taylor and Matt Doran, have donated significant amounts to Climate 200. In the past three financial years, Doran has contributed $382,600 to Climate 200, while Taylor has contributed $50,000, as well as $183,078 to Climate 200-backed ACT Senator David Pocock.
Rawson (alongside wife Michelle) contributed $20,000 to Climate 200-backed independent candidate for Bradfield Nicolette Boele’s 2022 campaign and provided his renewable diesel-powered super yacht Belle for a Boele campaign event.
Holmes à Court has consistently denied a funding relationship between Climate 200 and Gazette, as has the publication’s founder and CEO Anna Saulwick, who told Crikey that Gazette does not take editorial direction from its funders.
Saulwick declined to say, either precisely or approximately, how much money Doran, Taylor or Rawson had contributed to the start-up, but said that they retained no equity in the company.
“I’m really proud to have found funders who align with our values and who support high-quality local news at the local level. I’m not going to get into exact amounts of their contribution, but I feel really grateful that I was able to find some folks who support that mission,” she said.
“There is a strict firewall between our funders and our editorial process … editorial independence is incredibly important to us, and it’s a value that we uphold here at Gazette.”
“This was always a nasty, false political stunt,” Saulwick added in a statement provided to Crikey.
“And the AEC’s decision confirms it. Some politicians are willing to try to intimidate independent media into silence, but we won’t be backing down from asking tough questions or serving our local communities.”
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