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Qld: Editor stands by Hanson nude photos


16 Mar 2009 12:44 PM

BRISBANE, March 16 AAP - A newspaper editor is standing by the publication of nude photographs of Pauline Hanson.

The Sunday Telegraph published photographs of the One Nation founder which the News Limited group bought for $15,000 from a man who said he was a former boyfriend of Ms Hanson.

Ms Hanson says she is now taking legal action against the newspaper plus the Nine and Seven television networks, claiming the photographs are not of her.

But Sunday Telegraph editor Neil Breen told Fairfax Radio on Monday the photographs were of Ms Hanson.

"I think there is absolutely no doubt," he said.

"I knew on Saturday when I had those photos ... that if I published something like that and they were wrong then I'm in huge trouble."

He said the newspaper's photograph experts had checked the images using computer software before they were published.

"You can see changes in the pixels ... if they've been doctored, and they weren't doctored," he said.

He admitted there were parts of the story told by Jack Johnson, who said he was a former boyfriend of Ms Hanson, that did not stack up, such as the exact date of the photographs and where they were taken.

"We should get every single last fact," he said.

"I'm not sure we could from his (Mr Johnson's) version of events ... but I think that is not the main point here. The main point is whether they are Pauline Hanson."

Mr Johnson and Ms Hanson will appear on Today Tonight and A Current Affair, respectively, on Monday night to tell their stories.

"It's now a battle of he-said she-said," Mr Breen said.