The Nine Network's chief executive officer, Hugh Marks, has apologised for the 60 Minutes' child abduction and vowed to find out exactly what went on and why. Marks said that he was certainly sorry about Sally Faulkner's bid to retrieve her children and that the Nine Network staff were put at risk.
The network head revealed during his first interview that he refused to rule out redundancies in getting to the bottom of what had happend since the scandal.
Marks stated via The Australian Business Review, "I'm sorry that we've put ourselves in a position where we're open to allegations we did the wrong thing. There's a whole bunch of things to be sorry for, but let's understand exactly what went on and why, before we make any decision."
Bank statements were revealed on Thursday, April 21, that Nine Network paid $69,000 to a child recovery agent hired to abduct Sally Faulkner's children from a Beirut street on behalf of the Australian actress and mother. 60 Minutes had been covering Sally Faulkner's bid to recover her children Lahela, five and Noah, three from their estranged father Ali al-Amin in Beirut, Daily Mail has reported.
Then on Sunday, April 24, 60 minutes reporter Michael Usher acknowledged the mistakes and failures that had been the subject of a lot of soul searching at Channel Nine.
On the other hand, Nine Network reporter Tara Brown and the three-person TV crew head back to Australia on Thursday night after spending 2 weeks in a Lebanon prison. Brown, together with producer Stephen Rice, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment could still face further charges eventhough they have returned to Australia, Bandt has cited.
A review of the editorial approval and actions of the crew involved in the Sally Faulkner case began on Friday, April 22. The case is being carried out by 60 Minutes founder Gerald Stone and former A Current Affair head David Hurley.
