BUSTED: ABC journalist under fire for undeclared $16k junket
The ABC has launched an internal investigation after a defence reporter accepted undisclosed travel from a German arms manufacturer.
A senior journalist at the ABC is facing an internal investigation after revelations he accepted a $16,000 business class junket from a weapons manufacturer featured in his reporting.
Veteran defence correspondent Andrew Greene is at the centre of the controversy after Media Watch host Linton Besser exposed his undisclosed travel funded by German arms company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The luxury trip included business class flights and hotel stays in Hamburg and Kiel.
The ABC deleted Greene’s report shortly after Media Watch aired allegations that the journalist failed to inform his editors about the arrangement.
This is disturbing to see one of the few defence writers at the national broadcaster took a $16,000 business class trip to attend a conference paid for by German weapons contractors. @AndrewBGreene is shaping the narrative around Australia's strategic future, and this conflict… https://t.co/ENWg99g5jH
— Joel Jenkins (@boganintel) June 16, 2025
“The veteran reporter had travelled from Sydney to Dubai to Germany and back again on a business class ticket that we estimate was worth about $16,000 and staying in hotels in Hamburg and Kiel, all of it paid for by none other than the German weapons company TKMS,” Besser told viewers.
Greene's segment had heavily featured quotes from TKMS chief executive Oliver Burkhard, who told the ABC, “We know what we're doing,” and, “I know our competitors, they never have been exported in the past.”
Besser was blunt in his criticism, stating that Greene had been “undone by weakness before temptation” and warned that such incidents could erode public trust in media institutions.
He also pointed to a broader culture within defence journalism where access is often traded for favours, stating that reporters “forever blocked by a Defence bureaucracy addicted to secrecy” were forced to “cozy up” to military contractors for basic information.
ABC reporter Andrew Greene travelled from Sydney to Germany on business class flights and put up in hotels in Hamburg and Kiel to attend a press event for German weapons company TKMS who paid for his trip, worth $16,000.
— Anne Tootill (@toot5000) June 17, 2025
When details came to light, the story was removed. pic.twitter.com/XTMbU19CYc
Besser listed similar sponsored trips undertaken by journalists from The Australian, the Seven Network and The Sydney Morning Herald, raising broader ethical questions.
An ABC spokesperson, Sally Jackson, confirmed the investigation in a statement.
“These are serious allegations and the ABC is investigating them,” she wrote. “The ABC has rigorous editorial policies and any such behaviour, if proven, would be unacceptable and could constitute misconduct. For reasons of due process and confidentiality we won’t comment further while the investigation is underway.”
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