[AusRace] V'landys will show a degree of verisimilitude

[L.B.Loveday]

Peter V'landys alleges he was 'ambushed' on racehorse cruelty by the ABC


Racing NSW boss Peter V'landys alleges he repeatedly asked the ABC what
material the public broadcaster had showing racehorse cruelty but was "kept
in the dark" before an expose was aired on 730.

Derrick Krusche
<https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/journalists/derrick-krusche> , The Daily
Telegraph

Subscriber only

| 

July 27, 2020 11:56am

	
AAP0:57


Racing chief appalled by horse slaughter


Racing Australia chief executive Barry O'Farrell said he was "appalled" that
healthy Australian racehorses are being slaughtered but insisted it's up to
state govern...

Racing supremo Peter V'landys has accused the ABC of "ambushing" him during
an expose on alleged racehorse cruelty. 

The boss of Racing NSW is suing the public broadcaster for defamation over a
story last year on 730, which alleged hundreds of racehorses were being sent
to slaughterhouses in NSW and Queensland.

Barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, told the Federal Court on Monday the ABC had
refused to show Mr V'landys undercover videos of the facilities before his
interview - in which he said he had no knowledge of the practice taking
place in NSW - was intercut with the disturbing footage.

"It's a significant part of our case that the ABC ambushed my client," he
told the court.

"What they did was they interviewed him and he repeatedly asked in the
course of the interview, and this can be shown by the camera tapes, what
material they had showing the appalling treatment of racehorses.

"The journalist in question declined to show him that footage . so he was
completely in the dark.

"When they came to broadcast the segments of the interview they intercut
that footage with the footage of my client."

Mr V'landys lawyers allege the ABC did not disclose they had already
obtained the covert footage before he sat down with a journalist and
deprived him of a chance to explain his organisation has no sway over
Queensland, where the alleged mass killings were occurring.

Mr McClintock argued the 730 segment was deliberately cut to "make my client
look bad".

 

The segment sparked protests outside Royal Randwick racecourse after it
aired. Picture: Mark Metcalfe

"They showed my client, contrary to the fact, to be a liar and also contrary
to the fact, to have a callous disregard for the incidents of extraordinary
cruelty to racehorses which were being shown before during and after the
material with him," he said.

"It was an ambush, we rather think it was a deliberate ambush and that this
footage was deliberately cut in to make my client look bad.

 

 

V'Landys' lawyer argued that the interview was edited to make the Racing
chief "look bad". 

"He has a long history of working with the welfare of retired racehorses."

Barrister Clarissa Amato, acting on behalf of the ABC, questioned what
damages could be awarded to Mr V'Landys if he had never viewed the program
as he has previously said.

"Assuming it's accepted, as Mr V'landys seems to say in his outline, that he
has not in fact seen the program, he's never viewed it, the question becomes
are aggravated damages for hurt feelings available to an applicant who has
not viewed the matter complained of," she said.

But Mr McClintock said Mr V'Landys was well aware of the content of the
program and was thinking about showing him the footage for the first time
when he took to the witness box.

"Even though he hasn't seen the program, he's very well aware of what the
content was," he said.

"Things may change in relation to my client seeing the footage - I think it
would assist to see my client's reaction in the witness box . I suspect he
will show a degree of verisimilitude."

The matter will return to court at a later date.

 

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