ABC stars Tony Jones and Emma Alberici take leave as Lateline begins

When ABC’s Lateline returns on Monday night it will be missing its two star presenters Tony Jones and Emma Alberici.

ABC presenter Tony Jones

It has been a long nine weeks since ABC TV’s current affairs program Lateline was last on air — but when it returns on Monday night it will be missing its two star presenters Tony Jones and Emma Alberici.

ABC management has allowed both to take long service leave, meaning the program — which survived a threat to axe it three years ago — will have to draft in less experienced hosts.

Jones, one of the ABC’s highest paid presenters, will not host Lateline this year after persuading ABC management to let him take a year off from the program. He will write a novel about political terrorism in the 1970s for publisher Allen & Unwin. But Jones has agreed to continue to present Q&A on Monday nights.

Alberici will not return from long service leave until May.

Almost all ABC TV current affairs programs return next week after extensive summer breaks.

Media Watch, Four Corners and Q&A have not been seen since November 21 — 11 weeks, or about one fifth of the year. Insiders last appeared on December 4 while Lateline was off air from December 2. ABC TV’s News Breakfast and 7.30 ran through the summer, as did ABC Radio’s AM.

“ABC News budgets for a certain number of programs each year. There is nothing unusual about this summer, the programs are back on air this year at the same time as usual. Staff generally opt to take leave during the break,” an ABC spokeswoman said.

Three years ago ABC staff fought a concerted campaign to save Lateline from being axed.

The program had its budget cut and changed its format to run first on digital channel News 24 at 9.30pm (AEDT) and repeated on the main ABC TV channel at 10.30pm.

Stepping in to replace Jones and Alberici are ABC Sydney weekend newsreader Jeremy Fernandez, who will present the program Monday to Thursday, while continuing to read the 7pm news on Friday and Saturday. Lateline political correspondent David Lipson and senior reporter Matt Wordsworth will share presenting duties on Friday nights.

Current affairs programs are returning to the ABC a few weeks before managing director ­Michelle Guthrie will unveil a ­restructure that is set to be the most ambitious in the organisation’s 84-year history.

The future of the television, radio and online divisions could be radically reorganised into a flatter management structure by ­Guthrie, who wants to break down ABC silos and divert more money from management to programming.