Turnbull ‘may know more than he is saying’ about illegal 60 Minutes child snatch in 1980s

Tim Burrowes

April 23, 2016 1:00

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “may know more than he is saying” about a child recovery operation conducted by Nine’s 60 Minutes when he was a legal adviser to the network in the 1980s, a former producer on the show has suggested.

McClellan on Lateline: Turnbull may know more

Speaking on the ABC’s Lateline, Anthony McClellan drew comparisons between a child recovery from Spain, about which former presenter Ray Martin went public a few days ago, and this month’s disastrous operation in Beirut which saw Nine’s crew detained by authorities and facing kidnapping charges.

During his previous career as a lawyer, Turnbull was general counsel to Kerry Packer’s Australian Consolidated Press Holdings Group, which included Nine, from 1983 to 1985.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.