Broadcaster Alan Jones made inaccurate claims about climate change in a 2013 commentary that was highly critical of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the media watchdog has ruled.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority found Harbour Radio, licensee of Sydney radio station 2GB, did not use reasonable efforts to ensure factual statements made by Mr Jones were correct.
In his broadcast on September 24, 2013 - which Mr Jones said was based on a newspaper story in The Australian about the upcoming IPCC report - he claimed the IPCC had dramatically overestimated rising temperatures in the past and got it wrong by about 100 per cent.
The front-page Australian report was based on a story in the UK Mail on Sunday that said the IPCC had over-estimated the extent of global warming, which was half the rate claimed in its 2007 report. Subsequently the Press Council ruled against The Australian.
"The IPCC has hoodwinked us with this hoax for years, by claiming to be scientific. In reality, it's proven to be overly ideological and political and manifestly unsuited to its task," Mr Jones said on air.
That prompted a number of complaints to the station. Mr Jones went back on air later that day saying he wanted to make a correction, declaring the yet-to-be-released IPCC report made clear that temperatures had all but stopped rising.
ACMA received two complaints and launched its investigation in March 2014.
Harbour Radio disputed ACMA's power to investigate such complaints and launched legal action.
That ended in April when the Federal Court upheld ACMA powers to investigate the case.
In its delayed decision on Friday, ACMA said Mr Jones' remarks were specific, unequivocal and capable of independent verification and any ordinary reasonable listener would have understood them as statements of fact.
"The statements were also inaccurate," it said.
Harbour Radio said it relied on material from a reputable mainstream media source.
The initial report in The Australian was published on September 16 and subsequently corrected on September 21, three days before the Jones broadcast.
Share
