Des Houghton: Why did the ABC keep a minister in the dark about secret payment?

The increasingly irrelevant ABC needs to be reined in after it failed to tell the Communications Minister about a secret defamation payment, writes Des Houghton.

Revealed: I can confirm the ABC did not bother to tell Labor’s newly-minted Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland, that it made a substantial payment, in secret, to a Queensland richlister to settle a defamation action.

Rowland declined to comment, but a reliable source in her department assured me: “No, the minister was not aware of the payment.

“The ABC has not provided the minister with specific information on any defamation settlements.”

Though Rowland declined to be interviewed, her media people told me in a written statement: “I encourage the ABC to disclose any information it is legally able to through the appropriate reporting mechanisms.”

Queenslander Kevin Young received $400,000 from the ABC to settle a long-running defamation case.

This is significant. It suggests to me Rowland is miffed the ABC keeps her in the dark – even though she is the responsible minister for the ABC, which gets more than $1bn a year in taxpayer funding. Chairman Ita Buttrose, please note.

Wealthy Queenslander Kevin Young got $400,000 from the ABC to settle a long-running defamation case following a critical story on 7.30 in August 2014.

Young, from the Gold Coast, the founder of The Investors Club, also known as the Property Club, had sued ABC for defamation.

He alleged in the Federal Court the national broadcaster showed “reckless indifference to the truth”.

He also acted against the ABC for stories posted on its websites. Some of the online articles were later amended during the dispute.

The payment disclosure raises the possibility that other secret payments have been made to Australians aggrieved by the ABC.

Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. Picture: Tim Hunter

The ABC did not respond to my questions.

I was glad to see the ABC’s left-wing bias and its lack of accountability exposed in a special report this week by journalist Chris Kenny on Sky News.

It was an excellent show worth catching.

Kenny spoke to a former chairman, a former managing director and former ABC journalists who pinpointed serious failings in our national broadcaster.

As Kenny pointed out, the ABC regularly breaches its charter without sanction from the responsible minister.

There is a growing army of people who believe the ABC has passed its use-by date.

More still find it simply irrelevant.

I agree. It has become an imperious cult pushing extreme agendas and must be reined in.