ABC chair Ita Buttrose accuses the federal government of interfering with the ABC’s independence

ABC chair lashes out at the federal government following its move to launch a Senate inquiry into their complaints handling process.

ABC chair Ita Buttrose has criticised the Federal government for usurping the role of the BC Board and undermining the operational independence of the ABC.

ABC chair Ita Buttrose has launched a blistering attack on the Morrison government, accusing it of undue “political interference” following the surprise move to ­establish a Senate inquiry into the way the public broadcaster handles complaints from the public.

Ms Buttrose said the decision by Liberal MP Andrew Bragg, who heads the Senate committee on environment and communications, to hold an inquiry into the controversial complaints handling process was “a blatant attempt to usurp the role of the ABC board”, given the nine-person body had initiated an independent review of the same process just last month.

“Once again, an elected representative has chosen to threaten the ABC’s independence at the ­expense of the integrity of this ­irreplaceable public service,” Ms Buttrose said in a statement released on Sunday.

“Any incursion of this kind into the ABC’s independence should be seen by Australians for what it is – an attempt to weaken the community’s trust in the public broadcaster.”

As exclusively revealed by The Australian last week, the Senate inquiry will “examine the ­adequacy of the existing (complaints-handling) arrangements to provide a framework that is ­accessible, responsive, efficient, accountable and fit for purpose.”

The committee will submit its report by the end of February.

The ABC complaints department has come under intense scrutiny this year in the wake of serious editorial failings across some of its flagship programs, including Four Corners, and two heavily promoted series – Ghost Train: Exposed (which wrongly suggested former NSW premier Neville Wran had engaged in corrupt activity), and Juanita: A Family Mystery (a documentary on the 1975 disappearance of journalist Juanita Nielsen, which aired testimony by a widely discredited source).

The ABC has always maintained that its complaints handling unit is a separate entity within the public broadcaster, and is ­independent from the editorial division. But that claim has been further undermined this year by the lack of meaningful action taken as a ­result of the editorial shortcomings featured in the aforementioned programs.

The announcement of the Senate inquiry comes as it can be revealed that ABC executives will be called back to give further evidence at a “spill over” Senate estimates hearing in coming weeks.

It is expected the three executives who gave evidence at last month’s hearing – managing director David Anderson, chief ­financial officer Melanie Kleyn and editorial director Craig McMurtrie – will be required to give further evidence to the committee.

Last month’s hearing was dominated by questions about the ABC’s decision to spend in the vicinity of $200,000 in legal costs in the defence of a defamatory tweet posted by high-profile reporter Louise Milligan on her private Twitter account.

On Sunday, Senator Bragg ­defended his decision to launch a Senate inquiry into the complaints handling procedures at both the ABC and SBS.

“The inquiry hopes to identify any flaws in the complaints process and improve them so that these channels are operating at the highest possible standard for the public,” he said.

But the move by Senator Bragg raised some eyebrows in Coalition circles, largely because there is little appetite within the federal government to lock horns with the national broadcaster in the lead-up to the election, due in the first half of next year.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said on Sunday: “This is a matter for the Senate.”

Ms Buttrose has largely avoided wading into political debates over the course of her tenure at the ABC, but her statement on Sunday was her harshest critique of the federal government since 2019, when she was Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “captain’s pick” for the top job at the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.

“This is an act of political interference designed to intimidate the ABC and mute its role as this country’s most trusted source of public interest journalism,” she said. “If politicians determine the operation of the national broadcaster’s complaints system, they can influence what is reported by the ABC.

“I will leave it to Senator Bragg to explain his motives but the impact of this action is clear. As chair of the ABC board I am duty-bound to call out any action that seeks to undermine the independence of the national broadcaster.”