By Michael Koziol & Jennifer Duke
The full text of an email sent by former ABC chairman Justin Milne about journalist Emma Alberici reveals he wanted the high-profile presenter sacked because she was "sticking it" to the government with a "clear bias".
Mr Milne, who resigned as chairman of the public broadcaster on Thursday, complained in an ABC interview that his email to former managing director Michelle Guthrie was presented "out of context" when Fairfax Media broke the story of his attempt to have Alberici removed.
Ms Guthrie pasted a copy of the email in a document to the board last week, days before she was fired. The full version, read to Fairfax Media by a person who witnessed Ms Guthrie's presentation, reveals the extent of his concerns about Alberici as chief economics correspondent.
The text read: "After two glasses of red of course there's an agenda. They fricken hate her. She keeps sticking it to them with a clear bias against them. We clear her as ok. We r tarred with her brush. I just think it's simple. Get rid of her. My view is we need to save the corporation not Emma. There is no g'tee they will lose the next election [sic]."
Mr Milne was responding to an email from Ms Guthrie about Alberici. It was not clear why he referred to "two glasses of red". The email was sent on May 8, the day of the federal budget.
On the ABC's 7.30 program on Thursday night, Mr Milne said the email was part of a "confidential conversation" he was having with senior people at the ABC about what to do with Alberici.
The former Telstra executive admitted his concerns were partly driven by his desire for the ABC to secure $500 million in funding for Project Jetstream, a major digital transformation project which was being discussed with the government.
Michelle Guthrie pasted a copy of the email in a document she circulated to the board last week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
"It would be naive not to understand that the relationship between the government and the ABC is a difficult one," he said.
"You can’t go around irritating the person who's going to give you funding again and again and again if it's over matters of accuracy and impartiality."
The ABC found nine errors in a news article by Alberici on the government's corporate tax policies, and significantly rewrote her analysis piece on the same topic. On another story about innovation, the ABC issued a minor clarification but otherwise rejected the government's complaints.
Former ABC chairman Justin Milne following his resignation on Thursday.Credit: AAP
Mr Milne, who is a friend and former business partner of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, said it was not true that Mr Turnbull had rung him in a fury about Alberici's reporting.
He maintained he had "never provided instructions that anybody should be sacked". He said he did not remember telling Ms Guthrie to "shoot" political editor Andrew Probyn, but conceded raising "the Probyn issue" with the ABC's senior leadership team, which includes news director Gaven Morris and editorial director Alan Sunderland.
Mr Turnbull personally complained about Probyn to Ms Guthrie at a gathering prior to last year's AFL Grand Final, as Fairfax Media has reported. Probyn was later promoted to political editor.
Asked by ABC host Leigh Sales whether he had crossed a line through his attempted interventions, Mr Milne said it was not his role to be a "wall" between politicians and the editorial team.
"Nobody has told me that I'm supposed to be a wall. I think more what I'm likely to be is a conduit," he said.
Responding to Fairfax Media's report detailing concerns about his language in meetings, Mr Milne said he did not think that he had ever called Ms Guthrie "the missus". He said he never used the term "babes", but did sometimes call people he liked "chicks" in order to relax them.
"It's colloquial, it's kind of matey," he said, and apologised if he had caused any offence.
Mr Milne was appointed as chairman of the ABC last year by the Turnbull government. He is also on the board of the NBN, MYOB Group, Tabcorp and several other firms.
Mr Milne's spokesman did not respond to a requests comment on the Alberici email on Thursday.