‘I’ve never called for anybody to be fired’: Turnbull denies reports he interfered with ABC staffing

MALCOLM Turnbull has denied calling for anybody to be fired at the broadcaster, as staff called for the ABC chairman to be sacked and an investigation was opened.

THE ABC chairman ordered former managing director Michelle Guthrie to sack star political editor Andrew Probyn because Malcolm Turnbull hated him, according to reports.

Justin Milne allegedly told Ms Guthrie “you just have to shoot him’’ and said refusing the then-prime minister’s wishes would put half a billion dollars of project funding and “the future of the ABC at risk”, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Ms Guthrie made the claims in a report on the conversation included in documents she handed to the ABC Board on Friday, before her firing on Monday.

Speaking in public for the first time since his ousting at the United Nations in New York, Mr Turnbull denied he had called for the removal of any particular journalist.

“The bottom line is I’ve never called for anybody to be fired,” he said. “My concern has been purely about the accuracy and impartiality of news and current affairs reporting on the ABC.”

After speaking about tobacco-free finance at the UN General Assembly in New York, the former PM said the broadcaster had “failed in that regard on a number of occasions in the recent past.”

Mr Turnbull, who has been living near the UN in Manhattan since last month’s spill, insisted the ABC was independent but “high standards” and accuracy were “critical.”

It came as chaos at the national broadcaster deepened, with the Communications Minister demanding an inquiry and ABC staff around the country calling for Mr Milne to resign — but the chairman said he wasn’t going anywhere.

Malcolm Turnbull spoke about tobacco-free finance at the UN in New York overnight. Picture: Twitter

Former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie said hse was told to fire an editor the ex-PM did not like. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Smith

In an interview with ABC Radio host Rafael Epstein this afternoon via text message, Mr Milne said he was staying in the job. The comments followed an urgent board meeting he attended.

It was Mr Milne’s first statement since this morning, when he said: “The job of the ABC Board is to independently govern the Corporation, protect its best interests, ensure that it is well funded, well managed, and that our content is of the highest standards.”

The chairman is under fire after Fairfax Media revealed he sent an email to Ms Guthrie in May demanding journalist Emma Alberici be fired after the Coalition Government criticised her reporting. Alberici says the reports are “disappointing if true”.

#BREAKING The Federal Government is launching an inquiry into allegations of political interference in the ABC, following today's media reports. Statement below from Mitch Fifield. #auspol @politicsabc pic.twitter.com/xDQDiY0rDm

— Jane Norman (@janeenorman) September 26, 2018

Mr Milne is also accused of trying to stop Triple J moving its Hottest 100 countdown from Australia Day because he was afraid then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not like it, according to sources.

Staff at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane earlier unanimously passed motions calling for an independent investigation into Mr Milne’s conduct.

The pressure on Mr Milne to stand down is ramping up. Federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield met with the Prime Minister this afternoon and asked the department to establish an inquiry.

“I have asked the Secretary of the Department of Communications and the Arts to undertake an inquiry to establish the facts in relation to today’s media reports surrounding the ABC,” Mr Fifield said in a statement.

ABC staff hold a meeting outside their offices in Ultimo, Sydney.

ABC STAFF STANDING UP FOR INDEPENDENCE

Former ABC 7.30 host Kerry O’Brien told ABC Radio this afternoon that Mr Milne must step down.

“It’s come at an appalling time,” he said. “If this email exists, if it’s been accurately reported, there is absolutely no doubt that he should not stay in that job.”

He said that he would have expected Mr Milne to deny the reports if they were untrue and that he is “pleased it’s come out”.

“There’s been talk of political pressure, but never has there been such a blatant example as this appears to be,” he said. “I think the pressure now goes on the other board members to have a tough conversation with Justin Milne.

“Either he knew what he was doing ... or was dangerously naive in not understanding that he was absolutely undermining the independence of the ABC.”

ABC staff members hold deep concerns in the wake of this morning’s revelations.

Michael Janda, the broadcaster’s senior digital business reporter, said he was “disturbed” by the report and hoped the board would deal with it appropriately.

“It’s disturbing if it’s accurate because we hope that management and the board will have our back as long as the facts in our stories stack up,” he told news.com.au.

ABC staff exit their offices ahead of a meeting in Ultimo, Sydney.

“If there’s any problem with the stories, there’s editorial policies to deal with that. That was discussed at the meeting today — any issues with inaccuracies or impartialities … we have one of the most comprehensive complaints processes in Australia. There’s a process behind it precisely for this reason. You don’t want people coming in through backchannels or the board and putting pressure on them.”

ABC investigative journalist Stephen Long said the broadcaster’s reporters must be trusted to do their jobs without interference.

“We all know the ABC is under strong and growing political pressure. We accept that’s the territory we live in (but) what we need is a management and a board who will stand up for us,” he said.

“A journalist being sacked because they had done work which offended the government is not OK. This is not about Emma Alberici or the merits or otherwise of the particular stories. They were handled through editorial processes. This is about the appropriate role of the chairman and board, and that is not to act as a conduit for pressure from the government or any other powerful vested interests to have journalists sacked who aren’t liked by government ministers or any other powerful vested interests.

Staff motion at #ABC #Melbourne calls on Chairman #JustinMilne to stand aside for independent investigation into attempt to sack @albericie due to political pressure. Unanimous.@abcnews @PercyKaren @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/7sfwf8n6ZD

— Norman Hermant (@NormanHermant) September 26, 2018

In Brisbane, staff have taken their demands further calling on Mr Milne to “immediately resign” if it’s found reporting on a damning leaked email he sent to Ms Guthrie is true.

An email sent to ABC staff today from the ABC house committee said: “We need to send a message that it is not OK for the chairman of the board to bow to political pressure about ABC coverage.

“This is vital to the ABC’s independence and our ability to report fearlessly and independently.”

Staff at the ABC in Melbourne also passed a motion unanimously calling for Mr Milne to resign.

“The ABC is, and always has been, a fiercely loyal independent news organisation and it is of no concern to our program makers or journalists whether they are hated by any government,” a spokeswoman said.

ALBERICI WEIGHS IN ON EMAIL SCANDAL
Star broadcaster Alberici says a report that the public broadcaster’s chairman demanded she be sacked was “disappointing if it’s true”.

Appearing on ABC radio this morning, Alberici said: “You don’t want your chairman to hold such a dim view of you and your journalism.

“But it does strike (me) as odd and very disturbing, if the other reports are true, that the minister was also somehow expressing a view about my continued employment.

“I just think it really undermines the independence of the ABC (and) that’s certainly why I work there.”

Mr Milne sent an email to former managing director Ms Guthrie in May demanding Alberici be fired after the Coalition Government criticised her reporting, according to Fairfax Media.

Michelle Guthrie (left) reportedly defended Emma Alberici from attacks made by ABC chairman Justin Milne.

The email was sent on May 8, one day after former prime minister Mr Turnbull sent a list of grievances about Alberici’s reporting to the ABC.

Alberici suggested this morning that Mr Milne may have had a conflict of interest, given he is the chairman of MYOB, one of the companies criticised in her controversial corporate tax story.

“All I’ll say (is) I don’t think someone should be making recommendations on something if they have a conflict of interest or at least have an appearance of a conflict of interest,” she told ABC radio.

“Normally what is the case in business certainly is that people recuse themselves from a board meeting if there is even an appearance of a conflict of interest.”

Ms Guthrie, who was sensationally dismissed from the public broadcaster less than halfway into her five-year term on Monday, reportedly defended Alberici from attacks made by Mr Milne.

ABC Chairman Justin Milne and former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie. Picture: Joel Carrett/AAP

ABC CHAIRMAN’S SCATHING EMAIL REVEALED

Mr Milne’s email calling for Alberici’s sacking was reportedly sent on May 8 in response to one from Ms Guthrie, and was later circulated to board members in the week leading up to her axing on Monday.

“They (the government) hate her,” Mr Milne said in the email of Alberici, according to Fairfax Media. “We are tarred with her brush. I think it’s simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC — not Emma. There is no guarantee they (the Coalition) will lose the next election.”
Alberici has increasingly been the subject of accusations from the Coalition government of inaccurate reporting.

The day before the email was sent, then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had issued a list of complaints to the public broadcaster’s news director Gaven Morris over a story she had written about the government’s research and innovation spending.

Mr Fifield also complained to the ABC about the story.

ABC chairman Justin Milne reportedly told former managing director Michelle Guthrie to fire the public broadcaster’s economics correspondent Emma Alberici.

Mr Morris forwarded the complaint to Ms Guthrie, who then emailed the chairman directly.

At the time, the broadcaster responded by commissioning an internal review by its Audience and Consumer Affairs Team.

It issued a correction the next day making one correction, but dismissed all other 10 complaints, saying the story was “accurate, newsworthy, in the public interest and presented in context”.

Just a few months before the incident, Alberici came under fire over an analysis she wrote about Mr Turnbull’s corporate tax cut policy.

The ABC late reviewed the story and found nine errors, conceding her piece showed a “lack of impartiality”.

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‘THEY LOOK AFTER THEMSELVES’

The email revelation follows a tumultuous week for the ABC, after Ms Guthrie, on a salary nearing $900,000 a year, was given her marching orders by management on Monday.

Staff at the ABC were notified by email before the broadcaster released a statement outlining the personnel change but failing to explain the reasons behind it.

“The decision follows discussions over several months that concluded when directors resolved that it was not in the best interests of the ABC for Ms Guthrie to continue to lead the organisation,” the statement said.

“In resolving to seek fresh leadership, the Board’s foremost consideration was the long-term interests of our own people and the millions of Australians who engage with ABC content every week.”

Ms Guthrie made her feelings known just before midday with a statement of her own. She said she was “devastated by the Board’s decision to terminate my employment despite no claim of wrongdoing on my part”.

Michelle Guthrie, on a salary nearing $900k a year, was given her marching orders by management on Monday.

The former managing director who was just halfway through her five-year contract with the ABC, said she was considering taking legal action.

“My term concludes on 4 July, 2021,” she said. “While my contract permits the Board to terminate my appointment without cause and with immediate effect, I believe there is no justification for the Board to trigger that termination clause. I am considering my legal options.

“At no point have any issues been raised with me about the transformation being undertaken, the investing in audiences strategy and my effectiveness in delivering that strategy.”