TWO journalists from the Melbourne-based Herald Sun newspaper have avoided jail for contempt of court. Reporters Michael Harvey and Gerard McManus had pleaded guilty to contempt of court for refusing to disclose the source of a leaked story about a federal government proposal to slash war veterans' benefits.
Victorian County Court chief judge Michael Rozenes today recorded convictions against the two men and fined them $7000 each.
The reporters' story, headlined "Cabinet's $500 million rebuff revealed", said cabinet had planned to adopt only five out of 65 recommendations from a review into veterans' entitlements before a backbench revolt.
Harvey and McManus refused to give evidence in a pre-trial hearing at the Victorian County Court for public servant Desmond Patrick Kelly in August, 2005.
A County Court jury convicted Mr Kelly of leaking confidential information to a journalist, but that conviction was later quashed by the Victorian Supreme Court.
In February, McManus pleaded guilty to five counts of contempt and Harvey to four.
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) federal secretary Chris Warren has said they should never have been charged.
He said the pair had been caught in the middle of a campaign by the federal government against whistleblowers and as a result of that campaign they were charged.
