This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

Sky News will return to Melbourne train platforms a year after the Victorian government sparked a war with News Corp after banning the broadcaster for interviewing the far-right extremist Blair Cottrell.

“We welcome the Victorian government’s decision to reinstate the bespoke Sky News weather and news service that is produced for the Melbourne Trains,” a spokeswoman for Sky News said on Friday.

Outcry over Sky News Australia interview with far-right extremist Read more

Last August it seemed unlikely the relationship would be repaired after the transport infrastructure minister, Jacinta Allan, tweeted “hatred and racism have no place on our screens or in our community”.



Jacinta Allan (@JacintaAllanMP) I’ve directed @MetroTrains to remove @skynewsaustralia from all CBD station screens. Hatred and racism have no place on our screens or in our community. #springst

The government’s reaction to Sky’s Cottrell scandal was challenged by Sky News, which claimed that the interview with the United Patriots Front leader was never aired on the train platforms, which only carried a news package.

The then chief executive, Angelos Frangopoulos, said the ban was “political bullying based on lies and misrepresentation” and commentator Andrew Bolt called for Allan to be sacked for “unprecedented censorship”.

The Australian and the Herald Sun covered the ban extensively, including a comment piece from Caroline Overington that said: “It’s about punishing Sky. It’s 100 per cent political”.

On Friday the minister for public transport, Melissa Horne, said following a review of the content broadcast on the City Loop platforms, a new contract for news and entertainment content had been awarded to Sky News Australia.

The broadcaster will supply a bespoke package of content for XTD Limited, which manages the screens for Metro Trains, and it will be played on a loop.

From Alan Jones to the Daily Mail: the Australian media's bizarre reactions to the climate strike Read more

The content is not the live feed of Sky News and does not include any After Dark shows.

“We have strengthened the content requirements for broadcasting in the City Loop – to ensure it meets community expectations,” Horne said.

“This was never about one broadcaster or another – it was about ensuring that offensive content isn’t broadcast to the 90 million passengers who use the City Loop every year.”

Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

The new guidelines, which now apply to news as well as advertising, include no offensive subject matter, offensive language, sexualised images or anything that would demean a person or group on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, race or religion.

XTD Limited now has the capacity to review content if any complaints are received from commuters, something not possible under the old contract.

While Sky insists the Cottrell interview was never shown on Metro Trains, Allan’s office does not accept the claim.

Sky News’s political editor, David Speers, told Allan in a 2018 interview that the network had confirmed the Cottrell interview had not aired on train station screens in Melbourne.

Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) It was wrong to have Blair Cottrell on Sky News Australia. His views do not reflect ours. The interview has been removed from repeat timeslots and online platforms.

- Greg Byrnes, News Director

“I’m just trying to get the grounds for this, what is the reason for this, if it’s not the Blair Cottrell interview which, you acknowledge now, you’re not sure whether if it was broadcast. We checked and we’re sure it was not. What are you basing this on?” Speers asked Allan at the time.

A spokeswoman for Allan told Guardian Australia the minister received hundreds of complaints from commuters about the interview and they included the times they believed they saw the interview.

Allan said last year the government had decided to pull Sky from station screens because there had a been “number of interviews that had started to go down a slippery slope”.

“As the public transport minister, where it’s a public asset being used to televise particular content, I think I’ve got a responsibility to make sure that content is appropriate,” she said.