ABC sacks Michelle Guthrie after she refuses to quit

ABC chairman Justin Milne asked Michelle Guthrie to go on September 13, the day after they attended the Midwinter Ball.

No laughing matter … ABC chairman Justin Milne with then-managing director Michelle Guthrie in Sydney in February. Picture: John Feder

ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie was sensationally sacked yesterday after she had refused to ­resign and a series of emergency board meetings had failed to ­resolve the leadership crisis gripping the top of Australia’s public broadcaster.

Against a backdrop of growing concerns about the accuracy and impartiality of the ABC’s journalism, Michelle Guthrie’s termination just 2½ years into her five-year term was blamed last night on plunging staff morale, executive discontent and poor relations with Canberra powerbrokers.

The Australian understands chairman Justin Milne, on behalf of the board, asked Ms Guthrie to resign on September 13, the day after the pair attended the Midwinter Ball in Canberra.

The board held three meetings over the past week as it attempted to resolve the issue, concluding on Sunday night that there was no chance of an amicable parting.

Ms Guthrie, a former Google and News Corp senior executive who became the ABC’s first female managing director, said yesterday she was “devastated” and threatened legal action.

“I have invested more in investigative journalism; more in ­regional journalism; more in innovative content; and increased the efficiency and effectiveness of work across the ABC,’’ she said.

“I believe there is no justifi­cation for the board to trigger that termination clause. I am considering my legal options.”

Ms Guthrie, hired on a salary of $900,000 a year, has engaged lawyers Kate Eastman from New Chambers and Ruveni Kelleher from Johnson Winter & Slattery.

Mr Milne said the decision was made in the “long-term interests of our own people and the millions of Australians who engage with ABC content every week”.

“The board felt in the end that her leadership style was not the style that we needed going forward,” he said. “We needed a different leadership style, and that is the decision of the board.”

 

It is understood there were concerns within the ABC that Ms ­Guthrie was not a strong backer of Project Jetstream — a new digital platform requiring an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars that would be built to house all of the national broadcaster’s content — and that her lukewarm attitude had triggered tensions at the board and executive level.

While denying any political pressure to remove Ms Guthrie, Mr Milne, a long-time friend of Malcolm Turnbull, said relations with the federal government “could have been better”.

“In an ideal world, I would like to see our relationship — I think the relationship between the ABC and government is, on the one hand, difficult because of course we need to be independent from government, but it is an important relationship because the government funds us.”

Scott Morrison said it was the ABC board’s decision to “decide how well that show has been run”.

“I want to see an ABC that’s strong and doing its job,” the Prime Minister said. “That’s what the board is responsible for.”

Ms Guthrie was replaced by David Anderson, ABC director, entertainment and specialist, as ­interim managing director.

Questions put to the ABC about the breakdown of Ms Guth­rie’s relationship with Mr Milne by The Australian on Sunday prompted Mr Milne to call another board meeting that evening, at which ­directors passed a vote of no ­confidence.

GRAPHIC: The rise and fall of Michelle Guthrie

Following the meeting, Communications Minister Mitch ­Fifield was informed of the decision, which The Australian reported exclusively yesterday morn­ing, just before staff learnt of the news via a company-wide ­announcement. Ms Gutherie is the first ABC boss to be forced out since Jonathan Shier resigned under pressure in 2001.

The board had raised several ­issues of concern with Ms Guthrie in recent months, sources said. She was told late last month that the board was losing confidence in her leadership.

“It had been a long time coming. Michelle was on ­notice and had been given appropriate time to prove herself,’’ one source close to the board said.

Sources pointed out it had a legislated duty under section 8 of the ABC Act to supervise the accuracy and potential bias of editorial output.

“It is the duty of the board,” the act stipulates, “to ensure that the gathering and presentation by the corporation of news and information is accurate and impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism.”

Ms Guthrie was said to feel ­undermined by pressure from Mr Milne to act on complaints from the government about ABC journalism.

 

Responding to the accusation that Mr Milne was running interference, a source close to him said: “For a chairman not be involved in those discussions is arguably a ­dereliction of duty.”

“If the MD is unwilling to defend the ­organisation on bias or accuracy, then a board should step in and play a slightly more front-footed role to fill the vacuum.

“It would be appropriate of the board to express a view on any of those issues, ­especially if coming from government or opposition.”

Among the other criticism of Ms Guthrie from the ABC board was an alleged lack of engagement in Canberra.

Directors also took a dim view of her skipping a Senate estimates hearing, complaining about a session running late that would make her miss a flight.

In hearings, she had a tendency to defer questions about editorial complaints to underlings when staff were looking for her to stand up and defend the organisation.

ABC directors also noted that she contrasted unfavourably with outgoing SBS managing director Michael Ebeid.

In the May budget, the government said it would pause index­ation of the ABC’s operational funding in the next triennium to ensure the ABC continued to find back-office efficiencies.

This will result in savings to the budget of $83.7 million over three years from 2019-20 to 2021-22. At the same time, the government said it would provide a total of $14.6m in funding to SBS over two years from 2018-19 to replace revenue that could not be raised from legislation that was not passed by the parliament.

Mr Milne said in his statement: “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 in ABC content every week.”

“This decision has been driven by our commitment to deliver best possible outcomes for our loyal audience and the best possible ­experience for our own people.

“The board wishes to thank Mich­elle for her contribution to the ABC. We are grateful for her hard work.”

In a later interview with ABC TV, Mr Milne admitted that the need for a better relationship with the government was one of the reasons she was sacked, effective immediately, but he insisted no one from the government put pressure on the board to sack her.

“The board felt in the end that her leadership style was not the style that we needed going forward. We needed a different leadership style,” he said. “That is possibly an area that could have been better. That said, I think Michelle tried hard and was involved with government., (but) the government, I must say, has provided no pressure, no opinion, has not been involved in this decision.”

Mr Morrison said he spoke to Senator Fifield about the board’s decision on Sunday night. Senator Fifield thanked Ms Guthrie and acknowledged her service.