An episode of Australian Story was pulled by the ABC at the last minute after it emerged the subject had been convicted of indecent assault more than three decades ago.
The decision came late on Monday evening, just hours before the program profiling Bendigo-based 73-year-old Ian Williams, who last year sued NAB subsidiary UBank after he was scammed out of $1338, was due to go to air.
The ABC initially said it needed to do further fact-checking and later explained that Williams had failed to disclose the serious historical conviction, which this masthead has since confirmed via court records related to indecent assault.
Williams confirmed he spent two years in jail after being charged in 1993 for the crime.
The episode’s producer, Amos Roberts, was made aware of the conviction on Monday after the broadcast was heavily promoted by the ABC over the weekend. The total production costs of the episode were about $100,000, one source with knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Williams confirmed the nature of the conviction and expressed his regret when approached by this masthead.
On Wednesday, he told The Australian he was sorry for hiding his “dark past” and for wasting taxpayer dollars, which were used to produce and promote the story.
As well as pulling the broadcast, the ABC also removed an episode of its investigative program Background Briefing, which profiled Williams in a 37-minute episode in July last year. It removed associated promotional material and scrubbed online coverage from the internet.
The broadcaster decided the new information it had received about Williams was materially impactful on the character portrayed in the program and its past coverage.
The episode centred on two transactions that had come out of Williams’ bank account in 2022, both at a Coles supermarket 150 kilometres from his Bendigo home. After the bank claimed that Williams had personally made the payments, he took them to the Supreme Court in Victoria, demanding $379 million, which amounted to 5.5 per cent of NAB’s after-tax profit. He argued that the $1338 was equivalent to 5.5 per cent of his annual pension.
Williams’ case against NAB was dismissed, but the bank eventually apologised for its initial miscommunications and refunded him the money.
An ABC spokesperson said content featuring Williams on the ABC no longer met its editorial standards and was removed. They said the Australian Story episode would not be aired in future.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.
