criticism in 2010 for the decision to air a story on then-New South Wales Transport Minister David Campbell as homosexual. Campbell, a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for over two decades, was forced to resign after Meakin chose to air a story by Walters showing Campbell leaving a gay bathhouse. Amidst criticism of the story former NSW Labor Premier Barrie Unsworth condemned Campbell's actions. "Campbell has been the police minister and he's been on the state crime commission, and he's frequented places where he's easily recognised," Mr Unsworth told The Australian newspaper. "The threat is not from Channel 7 lurking outside but by the people inside. We've got a criminal milieu in this city and he laid himself open to all sorts of threats and blackmail." Seven's decision to run the story was derided by other politicians and several rival media outlets as "not a good moment for the media coverage of Macquarie Street", "old-fashioned" and an act of "pathetic snooping". Seven's justification for airing the story was initially that Campbell had misused his Ministerial vehicle, however this allegation was quickly shown to be untrue by other media outlets, as New South Wales Ministers have full private use of their Ministerial vehicles. The justification later put forward by Seven to defend its actions was that it was in the public interest to make the allegations public because of the risk of blackmail. The Australian Communications & Media Authority instigated an investigation into Seven's conduct in this matter, under the industry's self-regulated code of conduct. It accepted the public interest justification put forward by Seven, that Campbell's actions left him "vulnerable to compromise or blackmail". Tony Abbott "Shit happens" In 2011, under the freedom of information laws, 7NEWS obtained footage showing Opposition leader Tony Abbott speaking about the recent death of an Australian soldier in Afghanistan. 7NEWS edited the clips, then broadcast them that evening. After the incident, many media websites labeled the story a "ratings grab" for the network. The following morning, rival networks, obtained the same footage as 7NEWS and broadcast another part of the interview not seen on the original report showing military leaders agreeing with Tony saying "It certainly does", backing his claims that his words had been taken out of context. Mr Abbott maintains that he was discussing whether the unit had had sufficient firepower support during the incident. 7NEWS reporter Mark Riley