Does a key figure in the government’s ongoing war on the ABC have an emerging conflict of interest? A few weeks back, former Foxtel head Peter Tonagh was flagged as the likely head of the government’s latest attack on the national broadcaster, yet another “efficiency review”, to be conducted with former senior ACMA executive Richard Bean.
So far, so standard — the government has already slashed ABC funding by hundreds of millions, filed reams of vexatious complaints about accurate journalism, and handed News Corp $30 million dollars with no strings attached.
Unlike other Murdoch retainers on the outer, News couldn’t find a bolt hole for Tonagh after Foxtel — as it has done for former editors, executives and retainers, such as Richard Freudenstein and Hamish McLennan, a former head. Both are now on the board of REA Group, 61% owned by News Corp. There was no room at the inn for Tonagh. So the Turnbull gig is a nice opportunity for him or, you might interpret it, just one part of the Murdoch-Liberal empire doing what another part couldn’t. Frankly we’re surprised he didn’t get a gig at the Business Council.
But Tonagh has another role: according to the Financial Review’s Myriam Robin, Tonagh is heading up a consortium, AVP, that’s in the running for a potentially huge visa processing system contract for Home Affairs — possibly worth a billion dollars or more. Home Affairs have been copping grief for its visa processing system for some time now. The consortium, Robin notes, has both political bases covered — one key member, Scott Briggs, is a confidant of Malcolm Turnbull, while Labor powerbroker Stephen Conroy is also on board. Nothing wrong with any of that, although the consortium has minimal relevant experience compared to the major partner of another consortium, Australia Post. But good luck to them.
However, one would hope that the decision on the tender would be made before Tonagh commenced the ABC review, if indeed he’s to lead it. But the decision on the bid has been delayed until August. Delays, of course, are a part of Home Affairs’ traditionally rotten handling of major tenders, although the department is moving to try to improve its oversight and handling of both tenders and contracts. But it would be a poor look if Tonagh was running the ruler over the ABC at the same time he was part of a group hoping to win a billion-dollar contract from a government hellbent on neutering and defunding the ABC.
And the consortium plans to list on the ASX if it wins the contract. So what happens to investors if it loses the contract next time around? That’s quite an incentive to keep the government onside.
No doubt a rhetorical question. Just one more arsenal in the Librorts Party’s pathetic attempts to prove “left wing bias” in the ABC. Oh, what a shame that facts naturally have a left wing bias.
One look at the 7:30 report, Insiders, The Drum or Q&A conclusively proves that there is-if anything-a clear leaning towards the Liberal Party side of the bias spectrum. I have lost count of the number of IPA/News Corpse hacks, along with far-Right MP’s, that the various panel shows bring on to vent their spleens at the audience.
Sorry, I meant “weapon in the arsenal”.
Therein lies the problem for a political player, with so many chips, like Rupert. With less people turning to his various conservative political propaganda outpourings for inspiration and legitimising, where to promote that ideology?
When the ABC can do it in exchange for the same good PR for the Limited News Party of his choice .
A foreign national getting away with meddlong in our political system – as long as his organisation doesn’t slag off the government as much as it does the Opposition?
Many ABC supporters believe the former NewsCrap maggot will have a conflict of interest in the review of the ABC.
… fighting their ways to the core?
What do you mean “could”?
The neo-liberal benefit system whereby the ostensibly private sector scrounges off the taxpayer to gain a privatised profit. Bad enough that Tonagh, News Ltd’s offspin,is given a reward to come up with yet another detraction from the ABC’s ” commons” role; he is also a player seeking to profit from the privatisation of functions relating to visas that should be the province of an adequately resourced public service; perhaps worst of all, Stephen Conroy lining up to get a slice of the spoils. Have a look at Owen Jones’ “The Establishment”, and Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains”, about the UK and the US respectively. The ascendancy of neo-liberal political economy has infected the left in the anglophone countries almost as much as it prevails over the right. We are witnessing parades of politicians and businessmen with senses of entitlement, indifference to conflicts of interest, disregard for the conservation of institutional checks and balances. Sadly, the difference between many evoluees of each mainstream party is too often just a matter of degree.
The visa processing system not working, they say. Probably underfunded, I say. But wait, lets throw a billion dollars at private industry and some ex-pollies to solve the problem. A billion dollars here, a billion dollars there. How very NLP of them.