Billionaire philanthropist Judith Neilson has broken her silence on the ruckus inside her journalism institute, citing audacious plans to create an Australian “Nobel Prize” in her name as the reason for her falling out with its management.

Turmoil at the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism, based in Sydney, burst into public view in June when four independent directors – former NSW chief justice James Spigelman, editor-at-large of The Australian Paul Kelly, Free TV chief executive Bridget Fair, and Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation chief executive Kate Torney – abruptly resigned