The ABC never goes after leftie celebrities

Jones's lawyers soon put two and two together and concluded that the ABC campaign would go further than any other ABC campaign. It would go into areas forbidden to the ABC under its code and actionable under our law. The book, they suspected, would intrude improperly into Jones's private life and would be "replete with false and inappropriate sexual innuendo".

Jones's private life may well be interesting to the public but it is certainly not in the public interest to publish that. If the lawyers are indeed correct, it would seem that going into the areas of legitimate investigation remitted by the broadcast codes was not enough for the ABC. But when good sense finally prevailed it was too late. The ABC would lose the taxpayers' investment, which could probably be recouped by others who sniff a profit or see the opportunity for revenge.

Jones has made too many enemies not to ensure that. He is too effective. For instance: who played a leading role in stopping the Snowy Hydro sale? Who helped save the drivers at Tooheys? And who helped ensure that the clients of a big broker recovered their badly invested superannuation? The success of his many and constant campaigns means that he has enemies across the country, some of whom will do much to punish and to silence him. If the book does contain the filth the lawyers suspect, those involved - and not only the publishers - run this risk.

In the meantime, the result for the ABC is an unmitigated disaster. Its jealousy and hatred made it blind to what it was doing. As Talleyrand said of Napoleon's decision to execute the innocent Duc d'Enghien: "It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder." This blunder will only add more substance to the justified charge that the ABC needs not simply reform, but that it may have reached the point where it is beyond reform.