Sky News commentator Peta Credlin has been forced to issue an on-air apology to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for asserting that his petition for a Royal Commission was a “data harvesting” scam.
In news that you truly love to see, Rudd shared the apology alongside the original clip, just to remind us all how truly idiotic the original take from Credlin actually was. *chefs kiss*
“I’m pleased to say that Murdoch’s Peta Credlin — the Liberal Party mouthpiece masquerading as a journalist — has settled my complaint against her for defamation. The terms are confidential, but here’s the on-air apology for her false claims on Sky News,” he tweeted on Monday night.
I’m pleased to say that Murdoch’s Peta Credlin — the Liberal Party mouthpiece masquerading as a journalist — has settled my complaint against her for defamation. The terms are confidential, but here’s the on-air apology for her false claims on Sky News. #MurdochRoyalCommission pic.twitter.com/IC1sbeuQj9
— Office of Kevin Rudd, 26th PM of Australia (@MrKRudd) February 1, 2021
“On November 11 last year, while commenting on former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s petition to the house of representatives … I said the petition was a data harvesting exercise and that Mr Rudd now had more than half a million email addresses to use for his own political purposes,” Credlin said in her apology.
“That was false. Mr Rudd did not have access to the email addresses in the petition because they were the property of parliament, nor did he seek them.
“The misuse of the email addresses as claimed would have been a serious invasion of peoples’ privacy. I apologise to Mr Rudd for any damage caused to him by my false statement.”
The exact terms and/or compensation involved in Rudd’s defamation case against Credlin remain unknown, but it appears the lawsuit has now been settled.
According to the SMH, lawyers for Rudd called Credlin demanding an immediate on-air apology the day after she first made the comments on November 11 of last year.
