Controversy
In April 2006, Koch walked the Kokoda Track in remembrance of Anzac Day. He was accompanied by his son A.J., his brother, his nephew, fellow news presenter Natalie Barr's husband Andrew, politicians Joe Hockey and Kevin Rudd, and Rudd's son. Their journey was documented for Sunrise and finished with a televised Anzac Day service, during which Koch's group controversially wore t-shirts advertising Seven News, which were prominently visible in the Sunrise broadcast. Koch strenuously denied any impropriety. The company which organised the tour later said the t-shirt labelling was a safety issue commonly used to identify trekkers.
In May 2006, Koch and Sunrise co-host Melissa Doyle were acquitted of contempt of court charges in a Melbourne Local Court. The charge arose after the name of a 14-year-old boy was published in a case in which the boy sought an irreconcilable differences order against his parents. The boy was painted as the source of the problem in the media, however the findings of Child Protection authorities and the Children's Court of Victoria that led to the order may not have been available to Koch or the media at the time, due to legal restraints, and have never been aired in the subsequent public debates about this case and the law of irreconcilable differences. The Seven Network and the show's producer were convicted of the offence.
On 9 May 2006, Koch covered the Beaconsfield mine rescue live from Beaconsfield when the trapped miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb were rescued. Todd Russell was a fan of Sunrise, and had been sending messages to Koch while trapped through rescue workers. After delaying Russell being transported to the hospital, Koch claimed that Russell invited him into the ambulance where he was given Russell's Miner's Tag from the safety board at the mine entrance. Koch's claim was verified by the emergency workers in charge of the vehicle. Koch later appeared on the ABC's The Glass House and talked about the incident, defending his actions.
Read more about this topic: David Koch (television Presenter)
Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)
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