With Justin Milne’s resignation as chair of the ABC, the risk is that this sorry saga will be seen as only about Milne’s political motivations and failures in the role. Instead, Milne’s performance makes more sense if he is seen as the Liberal Party’s inside man in a broader, and increasingly relentless, war against the ABC.
The Liberals’ war against the ABC is wide-ranging. It consists of multiple funding cuts totalling hundreds of millions of dollars; a constant stream of vexatious complaints about journalism that the Liberals find inconvenient, and attacks on journalists in parliament; attempts, mostly successful, to intimidate ABC management; the adoption of a party policy to privatise the broadcaster; a constant stream of “reviews” by commercial media executives and a remarkable singling out of the ABC in the government’s police state-style prosecution of Witness K and Bernard Collaery, in which the media company that broke the ASIS crime story, News Corp, was omitted.
We know that Michelle Guthrie failed to push back adequately in defence of the national broadcaster — even refusing to support Emma Alberici at a Senate estimates hearing — but now we know that her now-departed chairman, Justin Milne (appointed by his friend and former business partner Malcolm Turnbull), was seemingly not interested in defending the ABC at all. Instead, recent evidence reveals Milne pushed the Liberals’ agenda to attack journalists from within — explicitly because they had upset the Liberals.
In this, the Turnbull government managed to go one step further than the Howard government. The Howard government slashed ABC funding, appointed a friend of the prime minister to the chairmanship, launched a stream of vexatious complaints about its journalism, imposed reviews and stacked the board with Liberals and right-wingers. But Donald McDonald took his role as chair seriously and, as a conservative, saw the importance of defending a longstanding and trusted institution. He pushed back, hard, against attempts by the Howard government to target journalists.
Milne, in contrast, was an enemy within; he demanded the sacking of journalists who had incurred Liberal displeasure.
This, it seems, became apparent to the rest of the ABC board, which met this morning to deal with the crisis, and decided Milne’s position was untenable. The board is specifically given a statutory duty to defend the independence and integrity of the ABC. At the moment, that duty is the most important one of all for the ABC. Milne’s departure is the right step in the rest of the board fulfilling that duty.
“… attempts, mostly successful, to intimidate ABC management.”
I’ve never quite understood why these worked, given they were blatantly political and self-serving. Why didn’t ABC management strongly rebuff them?
Kishor Napier-Raman’s article also sheds some light as to why this pressure wasn’t resisted by the board. Have a look at the board members and their backgrounds as well as current external roles; the rot may permeate almost the entire board.
It’s the nature of the beast, Sinecure.
And Labor will do no differently.
Do you have some evidence that the ALP has attempted to silence opinions on the ABC while in power?
The real outrage here is that he was likely pushed – Fifield would have made clear that he could no longer count on support.
The issue is that none of this will find its way into the mainstream media – this is the stuff that should provoke genuine outrage instead of Serena William’s meltdown at the US Open being the main sporting story for three days, while all of the media (including the now limp ABC excuse for news) stoked confected outrage looking for a scandal that never was.
This shit IS scandalous and it will blow over because the MSM and the government don’t want it to remain in the public consciousness for too long – Turnbull will be blamed for putting one of his “mates” in the ABC, but Morrison will ensure that his repalcement also has compromised independence.
This is an example of how the rich and powerful vested interests achieve their aims by managing the political process and how politicians (of both sides) play the game solely to preserve or enhance their positions within their party. These interests are invariably white and male – which is why the LNP is representative of that group – by being white and male. The reigns of and the gains from power and influence are not easily surrendered.
Whither democracy? Apologies for being either Henny Penny or closing the gate after the horse has bolted (depending on where you find yourself on the cynicism spectrum)…
Withered Democracy indeed – we burnt that bridge before we came to it.
BTW, Henny Penny was a hard working, wheat cultivating, bread baking home loving fowl – did you mean Chicken Little?
I surely did AR!
Milne, Guthrie, Bernie Madoff, all diversionary foci. Meanwhile Fifield, card carrying member of the IPA, carries on regardless fighting the good fight to destroy the ABC
I wonder if all this would have been kept quiet if they hadn’t sacked Guthrie and this behaviour would never have surfaced.
The chairman is being portrayed as a Lib stooge, but it may just have been he was desperate for the gov’t to provide funding for his big digital project and felt he had to go along to obtain it.
I have previously pointed out that the ABC would not be safe regardless of what they did to please the government. Unless the ABC is a pro-Liberal daily newsletter the current government will never be satisfied.
The ABC had nothing to lose by maintaining the current government’s displeasure.
Yes Zut, quite right. Unfortunately they are just as beholden to a Labor Government when they are in power, unless they somehow miraculously appoint someone prepared to stand up to pernicious politicians who want it all their way.
I enjoyed seeing Kerry O’Brien being interviewed on The Drum last night and have enjoyed Barry Cassidy’s insights too.
The Murdochs’ have been determined to sink the ABC from its inception.
Stephen Conroy made new rules for how the board was elected, but this govt has chosen to bypass them and have the minister elect members apparently. Hopefully a more ethical govt will not do this.
David downHill anyone?
The ABC never recovered from his ministrations.
Is it possible that Frendz of the ABC could re-emerge from the tomb?
Adjusted for inflation, that 8 cents a day is better value than any smashed avocado.
That was my thinking too, Zut. As with Turnbull trying to appease the reactionary right, it’s a pointless exercise as nothing will ever be enough. Much better strategy to grow a backbone and resist.
I think in the long run we need to find a way to fund the ABC, and appoint its management, which is completely independent of politicians. Some kind of trust?
Licence fee as per the BBC? Inevitable costs of administration & enforcement.
Begging regularly from the audience as per NPR? paltry & pitiful results.
Ring fenced Budget item? HA!
It’s a poser but the one option that should not, must not be considered is advertising – look at what happened to SBS.
You have to be kidding AT. SBS tears ABC a new one every news broadcast. I won’t watch ABC if SBS is an option
Dead right. The Tories truly and deeply believe that The Australian is quality, balanced journalism, and they won’t rest until the ABC conforms to that idea.
There really is no depth of ethical iniquity the Liberal Party will not plumb. I am only just starting to join the dots on the ‘culture war’ thing. And at its core is a hatred of authentic democracy. An intolerance of pluralism, or at least the part pf the spectrum immediately to the left of the right wing nutters in the coalition. That Turnbull entered the fray the way that has been reported is staggering. I really thought Turnbull was better than that.
What the ABC sees as the ‘centre’ is apparently way left of the point these farcical ‘culture warriors’ see as the tolerable edge of opinion. That, of course means that those of us to the left of that are despised by the coalition. This government being consigned to oblivion cannot come quickly enough.
Thought it was pretty obvious that the coalition have been sourcing their political ethics from the US republicans for quite some time. Fake news, anti-science agendas, rampant cronyism, media standover tactics.
That Turnbull would stoop to media standover tactics as alleged however would surely be his greatest credibility failing, although the guff he tried to sell about the NBN runs pretty close.
Why is anyone surprised that Turnbull acted in this way? Remember his demand that SBS sack Scott McIntyre for daring to criticise ANZAC day? And his despicable part in the Yasmin Abdul-Mageid pile-on? Turnbull’s idea of free speech is indistinguishable from the rest of the reactionaries who made up his government, and now make up this one. Don’t be fooled by a bit of trendiness about gay marriage.
Why is anyone surprised that Turnbull acted in this way? Remember his demand that SBS sack Scott McIntyre for daring to criticise ANZAC day? And his despicable part in the Yasmin Abdul-Mageid pile-on? Turnbull’s idea of free speech is indistinguishable from the rest of the reactionaries who made up his government, and now make up this one. Don’t be fooled by a bit of trendiness about gay marriage.