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Aussies to show 'Global Warming Swindle' 
Controversial documentary rebutting claims will air on national TV

A CONTROVERSIAL British documentary which claims global warming is a lie will be shown by the ABC.

The Great Global Warming Swindle, to be aired by the national broadcaster in July, is the ideological opposite to Al Gore's acclaimed movie An Inconvenient Truth.

The documentary rebuts mounting scientific evidence that global warming is caused predominantly by human activity, and says it's the result of changes in radiation from the sun.

The film's credibility, some of its contributors and its maker, Martin Durkin, came under heavy questioning by scientists and the media after it aired on Britain's Channel 4 in March.

Channel 4 defended the film, as has ABC director of television Kim Dalton, on the basis that all sides of the hotly contested global warming debate deserved to be represented.

“Currently the issue of global warming is being debated around the world,” Mr Dalton said.

“This documentary presents a controversial side to that debate.”

Expert commentators supporting the film's claims include Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace who has spent the past 21 years as a critic of the environmentalist organisation, and oceanography professor Carl Wunsch, who was interviewed but later claimed his views had been misrepresented.

The ABC bought the rights to the international version of the hour-long program which had previously been passed on by the Nine Network.

“There are people who still question the link between human activity and global warming. I believe it's important that these views are heard and debated,” Mr Dalton said.

In the UK, the documentary attracted an audience of 2.5 million viewers and 246 complaints were made to the television regulator, Ofcom.

Channel 4 said, however, supporters outweighed the critics six to one.

One of the complaints was the non-disclosure of the controversy which surrounded a previous film by Durkin, Against Nature.

The UK's Independent Television Commission found that Durkin's 1997 film, which also was critical of environmentalists, had misrepresented the comments of its contributors.

Channel 4 was forced to make an apology during its prime time programming.