Dr Kirstin Ferguson is Scott Morrison’s pick for acting ABC chair

Labor frontbencher calls for PM to sack Communications Minister for failing to defend the ABC’s independence, as the board gets an acting chair.

Kirstin Ferguson will be acting chair of the ABC board until a replacement for Justin Milne is found. Picture: Patria Jannides

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has called for Scott Morrison to sack Mitch Fifield, accusing the Communications Minister of failing to defend the independence of the ABC.

Mr Albanese’s call comes after the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove this afternoon accepted the Prime Minister’s recommendation that Dr Kirstin Ferguson be appointed as the deputy chair ABC board.

The appointment will see Dr Ferguson act as chair of the board until a replacement is found for Justin Milne.

Mr Milne resigned yesterday, amid allegations he demanded deposed managing director Michelle Guthrie sack chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici because the government “hated” her, and directed her to “shoot” political editor Andrew Probyn following a meeting with then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull maintains that he never asked Mr Milne to sack journalists.

Mr Albanese said Senator Fifield had been present at the meeting with Mr Turnbull and Mr Milne, arguing the Communications Minister had a “particular responsibility” to ensure the integrity of the ABC charter was upheld and that separation between the public broadcaster and political interference was assured.

“What we now know is that as a direct result of that meeting, Mr Milne felt that so severe was the criticism of the government that it imperilled funding for the ABC which he sought, and it led to him demanding that the ABC CEO shoot Mr Andrew Probyn,” Mr Albanese said.

“For Mitch Fifield to sit in that meeting is quite extraordinary.

“(Senator) Fifield had a responsibility to, during that meeting, say that he respected the fact that the ABC chairman should operate separate from political interference.

“Quite clearly, that just didn’t happen.”

Mr Albanese also expressed concern about Mr Morrison’s failure to rule out amalgamating the ABC and SBS during a radio interview this morning.

“What we know is that the government in its most recent budget cut $83 million from the ABC and they set up a process of consideration of efficiencies,” Mr Albanese said.

“That consideration explicitly rules out the amalgamation of ABC and SBS.

“It does it for very sensible reasons, that they’re separate organisations with very different roles and responsibilities in the Australian media landscape.

“Here we have Scott Morrison leaving that open.”

Mr Albanese accused the government of wanting to privatise the ABC.

“The attacks must stop, and for as long as Mitch Fifield is the Communications Minister, then we’ll know that this is a government determined to undermine the independence and integrity of the ABC,” he said.

“The government should shift Mr Fifield to a different portfolio and we need a Communications Minister who can uphold that high responsibility that he has.”

Mr Albanese said he hoped due diligence had been done in appointing Dr Ferguson.

“We know that there is a real cloud over all the ABC board members, given that they knew about Mr Milne’s emails to Ms Guthrie for a week and didn’t say anything about it, didn’t appear to think there was anything wrong with it until it was leaked to the media before they were prepared to even raise any criticism,” he said.

“This draws a real question over the entire membership of the ABC board as it stands.”

PM picks new acting ABC chair

Dr Ferguson was first appointed to the ABC board in November 2015.

She is an independent company director on ASX100, ASX200, private company, and government boards and has previously been a non-executive director of the Queensland Theatre Company, SunWater Ltd, Queensland Rugby Union, and Dart Energy Ltd.

She began her career as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force and is the former CEO of a global consulting company operating in the mining and resources services sector.

Dr Ferguson is an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology Business School and a member of Chief Executive Women and Women Corporate Directors, and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

She is the creator of the global social media campaign #CelebratingWomen and is the author of Women Kind: Unlocking the power of women supporting women.

Mr Morrison said he would be recommending Dr Ferguson’s appointment to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove later today.

“Should the Governor-General accept that recommendation then she will also be in the position of being the acting chair of the ABC until such time as a new chair appointment is made through the normal process,” Mr Morrison said.

In a statement, Senator Fifield said Sir Peter had today accepted the government’s recommendation to appoint Dr Ferguson as Deputy Chair until her term on the board expires in November 2020.

“Dr Ferguson’s appointment means she assumes the role of Acting Chair of the ABC until a chair is formally appointed,” Senator Fifield said.

“Dr Ferguson will commence her role from today.

“Dr Ferguson brings exceptional business and leadership experience to the role and a deep understanding of the ABC, having served on the board as a non-executive director since November 2015.

“I congratulate Dr Ferguson on her appointment and look forward to her continued contribution to the ABC.”

New appointment must be bipartisan: Labor

Meanwhile, Labor has demanded that the appointment of the new board chairman be done in a bipartisan way to prevent the ABC being used as a “political plaything” by the Liberal Party.

Opposition communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland pointed to the system implemented by Labor in 2007, which was intended to ensure appointments to the ABC board were taken out of the hands of the government of the day and given to an independent panel.

If the communications minister of the day chose someone the panel had not short-listed, they would be required to justify the decision to parliament.

The system commenced in 2011.

Last year Labor attacked Communications Minister Mitch Fifield for failing to follow the new process when he appointed Western Australian company director Vanessa Guthrie instead of following the nomination panel’s recommendations.

The government has since refused to answer freedom-of-information requests to find out who was overlooked.

Ms Rowland said that given the proximity of the appointment of appointment to the election, there should be no partisanship.

“We’ve see the Liberals attack and undermine the ABC’s independence — this appointment is too important and shouldn’t be used by them to run their anti-ABC agenda,” Ms Rowland said.

“Labor is demanding that this appointment is done in a bipartisan way — independent of the political interference we’ve seen so far from the Liberals.

“Once again I’d remind them that the ABC doesn’t belong to the Liberals, it belongs to all Australians. They can’t treat this appointment as another political tool in their disposal.”

Jetstream not a priority

Mr Morrison earlier flagged that $500m multimedia program Jetstream, which was advocated by Mr Milne as a means of storing the ABC’s output and archival material, was not a funding priority for the government.

“Those sorts of things will be dealt with through a budget process, and we consider proposals from time to time, but look, that’s something to deal with in budgets, that’s not something we’re looking at right now,” the Prime Minister told ABC Melbourne host Jon Faine.

Asked whether giving the ABC half a billion dollars for a digital transformation project was a priority for his government, Mr Morrison said: “It’s a priority for our government to deal with the drought, to get electricity prices down, keep the economy strong, keep Australians safe and to keep them together. They’re my priorities.”

“We fund the ABC,” Mr Morrison said.

“I want them to do a good job, I want them to do it in an independent and unbiased way.

“That’s what taxpayers pay for and that’s what they expect, and that’s what I expect the board to deliver.”

Asked whether Jetstream was a “Malcolm Turnbull, Justin Milne Pie in the Sky project”, Mr Morrison said: “Well look Jon, I’m just not going to get drawn on this.”

“It’s not something that I’m focusing much attention on at the moment,” Mr Morrison said.

“I’ve told you what I’m focusing on and frankly the biggest issue for me at the moment, I’m doing a lot of work on it, has been the drought.

“We’ve got the aged care inquiry which we’re finalising the terms of reference for and we’re looking to appoint a commissioner to that, we’ve got the royal commission into the banking and financial industry coming out today, so there’s no shortage of very important issues for us to deal with, and as interesting as the ABC is, I noticed, I was looking at the front pages of the Melbourne papers this morning, and I think the Herald Sun got it right.

“I think most people are more interested in the AFL Grand Final than the ABC. I think The Age pulled the wrong rein there.”

Mr Morrison laughed when Faine ended the with the observation: “I think we just killed off Jetstream if we read between the lines.”

‘No politician asked for anyone to be fired’

Earlier in the interview, the Prime Minister denied that Mr Turnbull had gone through “back channels” to express his dissatisfaction with Ms Alberici and Mr Probyn’s reporting.

“No one’s done that,” he said.

“Jon, I’m sorry. No politician to my knowledge, or former prime minister or anyone else has asked for anyone to be fired.”

Mr Morrison said it was Mr Milne, not Mr Turnbull, who had asked Ms Guthrie to fire Ms Alberici and Mr Probyn.

“Politicians have every right to say if they think the journalists get it wrong,” he said.

“You and I disagree all the time, and I call you out if you think I’ve got it wrong, and you call me out if you think I’ve got it wrong. I haven’t got a problem with that.

“I mean on many occasions in the past I’ve taken issue with what the ABC’s done and I’ve raised it through the appropriate channels, and on quite a few occasions the ABC have had to apologise.

“That’s the process I’m with, Jon … and that’s how it should be. I mean we are able to say when we think they get it wrong, and you know the ABC doesn’t always apologise when they do get it wrong, by the way, but … you’re an independent organisation and that’s how it should be, but you’re not perfect.”

Asked whether the ABC and SBS should merge, given both are currently subject to an efficiency review, Mr Morrison said he would await the results of the review.

“I mean those sort of ideas have been floated before, but I’ll wait and see what the review says,” he said.

“I think that’s the fair and sensible thing to do.”

Asked whether he was tempted to merge the two broadcasters, Mr Morrison said: “It’s not about whether I’m tempted or not. It’s about what the evidence is and what the report says.”

“We’ll discuss it with our colleagues, that’s what cabinets do, and when we receive the report we’ll consider the report, but I don’t come into it with any sort of set view on this. I really don’t,” Mr Morrison said.

Asked whether the ABC board had become politicised, Mr Morrison said: “Who’s suggesting that?”

Faine nominated “various columnists.”

“There’s all sorts of commentary about it, which is why I’m asking you if it’s true,” the radio host said.

“I don’t get into gossip,” Mr Morrison said.

“I’m not going to get into all that. I mean you make appointments to the board, I expect them to do a job, and if they don’t do that job then they should go.”

Asked whether the ABC board had become a place “where mates get put to basically represent individual views of politicians”, Mr Morrison accused Faine of a “cynical observation”.

“I think people make some pretty subjective assessments of these things, and they’re entitled to make those assessments,” he said.

“I mean people commentate on people who are appointed to various boards or whatever.

“They’re entitled to their subjective investments, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with them.”

Mr Morrison said he did not have anyone in mind to serve as the next chair.

“No, there’s a process for that as you know, and I’ll let the process follow, and we’ll be making a recommendation later today for someone to step up to the position of deputy chair, which would mean that they would then become the acting chair until this issue’s resolved, so that’s the proper process and I’ll be following it,” he sad.

Faine nominated outgoing University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor Glyn Davis, who did his PhD on the ABC and political independence, and Sydney technology and media lawyer Danny Gilbert as potential contenders for the chairman ship.

“Well I’m sure there’ll be lots of good nominations made, Jon. I hear you’re finishing up next year. Maybe you want to throw your hat in the ring,” Mr Morrison joked.

Faine said he would be “eminently unqualified” for the position.

“There’s lots of names that have been put up,”

Board members ‘should be considering their position’: Albo

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese said ABC board members should be considering their position, given they are yet to publicly explain why they continued to Mr Milne amid claims he demanded the sacking of senior journalists because their reporting had outraged Mr Turnbull.

“The ABC certainly is a mess and board members who can’t do their job should be considering their position, and what the board needs is people on it who will stand up for the independence of the ABC,” Mr Albanese told the Nine Network.

“It is critical that it be a public broadcaster, not a government broadcaster, and what we’ve seen is though a mess of the government’s making.

“It’s the government that continues to try to intimidate the ABC that is so frightened of any criticism at all. These poor shrinking violets blame the media for their own failings.”

Asked by host Karl Stefanovic whether he was really claiming Labor has never tried to intimidate or bully journalists, Mr Albanese said: “Well they certainly haven’t done bullying or intimidation of the ABC.”

“It’s perfectly legitimate to have a criticism of a news story, and to do that publicly and to have that debate,” Mr Albanese said.

“What’s not legitimate is to say that people should be sacked for having a different view over a particular report in the way that the government has behaved over Andrew Probyn, over Emma Alberici, and perhaps others.”

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton denied he had ever put pressure on the ABC or any particular journalists.

“No, but I’ve made complaints to the ABC before and I have had on-air retractions because there is a bias within some elements of the ABC,” he told Nine.

Asked whether the whole board should resign, Mr Dutton pointed to the investigation being conducted by communications department secretary Mark Mrdak.

“Let that investigation take place, get to the bottom of it, see what the recommendations are and make decisions from there,” he said.

Mr Albanese chimed in: “Imagine what the government would be like if they had to put up with what Labor has from the commercial media,” he said.

“We just have to roll with it: the front pages, the caricatures all of that that goes on against us.

“The idea that the media is biased against the Coalition in this country is bizarre, when you have the ABC that from time to time upsets all sides of politics but is overwhelmingly balanced for most of the time, they get upset.”

Stefanovic made fun of Labor’s calls for a Senate inquiry into the issue.

“Do you know what you should do? You should order one of those Senate Inquiries that couldn’t even get rid of Peter Dutton,” he joked.

“Try and get a witness that is credible next time, Albo,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Albanese said there was still doubt around whether Mr Dutton’s interest in a childcare centre disqualified him from sitting in parliament under Section 44 of the constitution.

“We’ll wait and see. He still won’t refer himself to the High Court. He should,” Mr Albanese said.