Media, telco experience in new ABC board appointments

The Morrison government has appointed two seasoned media titans and a former telco executive to the ABC board, bringing a sharpened business perspective.

Former News Corp executive Peter Tonagh has been appointed as a director of the ABC. Picture: John Feder.

The Morrison government has appointed two seasoned media titans and a former telco executive to the ABC board, bringing a sharpened business perspective to the national broadcaster’s directorship.

Former Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh, one-time Channel 7 managing director Mario D’Orazio and telecommunications veteran Fiona Balfour have been appointed to five-year terms, effective immediately, in a clear indication the federal government wants to imbue the national broadcaster’s central decision-making body with increased business acumen.

Mr Tonagh and Mr D’Orazio were appointed after they were recommended to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher by the ABC’s independent nominations panel. Ms Balfour, who has known Mr Fletcher for more than a decade after meeting in shared business circles, was a “captain’s pick” by the minister. Board members draw an annual salary of $58,670.

It is not unusual for the government of the day to appoint its own preferred candidates over the recommendations of the ABC panel.

In a statement on Sunday night, ABC chair Ita Buttrose said: “I would like to welcome them. We are looking forward to their contribution and the benefits of their combined experience to ensure the ABC remains the valued and trusted public broadcaster Australians expect it to be.”

The appointments come less than two weeks after Ms Buttrose queried why she was excluded from the selection process of the nat­ional broadcaster’s board.

Ms Buttrose told the National Press Club this month “it made no sense” that, as chair of the organisation, she was shut out from having a say in the board’s makeup.

“I think that’s a mistake. I don’t know chairs of other companies who have no input into the composition of their board,” she said.

“Although we are a commonwealth entity, I do think the chair of all commonwealth entities should have some input into who the directors are. As chair, you know where you have to plug a few gaps, you know what you’re looking for. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The additions to the nine-member board are not viewed by ABC hierarchy as controversial, particularly given the wealth of media experience Mr Tonagh and Mr D’Orazio will bring to the boardroom.

Businesswoman and veteran IT executive Fiona Balfour.

However, there was a perception that experienced television producer Anita Jacoby — who was interviewed for a board position — would have been a welcome appointment within the walls of the national broadcaster.

Ms Jacoby was also short-listed for a role on the SBS board last year, but that vacancy was eventually filled by Indigenous businessman Warren Mundine.

But the move to install three corporate heavyweights to its board is an unmistakeable sign the federal government is looking to ensure the ABC assumes a greater focus on its financial obligations to the taxpayer.

Mr Tonagh’s appointment, as flagged by The Australian, comes two years after he authored an efficiency review into the ABC and SBS, which proposed “cost efficiencies in a number of areas”.

The review recommended they pivot to an increased focus on digital growth, and dump some shows and products not central to their charters.

The review said the ABC and SBS should “modernise technology and work practices, in the case of the ABC”, and “seek opportunities to collaborate across industry to optimise broadcast operations, digital delivery and content commissioning and acquisition”.

Mr Tonagh also called for longer-term funding time frames — currently the ABC operates on a triennial funding arrangement — to provide “greater certainty for the broadcasters to implement the recommendation for a 10-year forward planning horizon”.

Mr Tonagh worked for News Corporation entities for nearly 14 years in senior executive roles across each of the company’s key Australian businesses, including as chief executive officer of Foxtel, REA and News Corp Australia.

Mr D’Orazio, who worked for Channel 7 Perth for 30 years, including eight as its managing director until his retirement in 2019, is also a board member of Australia Post.

At the Senate inquiry into Christine Holgate’s ousting over the Cartier watch affair, Ms Holgate said Mr D’Orazio “was a personal friend of Minister (Mathias) Cormann” who oversaw Australia Post with Mr Fletcher during his tenure as finance minister.

Ms Balfour has extensive experience in the aviation, telecommunications, financial services and education sectors.

In 2007, she quit as chief information officer at Telstra after just 10 months — it was reported at the time that she left “due to an internal dispute … over control of the company’s $1.5bn IT transformation project”. Prior to her Telstra stint, she led the technology strategy at Qantas for 14 years.

The trio will commence their five-year board appointments to the board immediately, filling vacancies created by the expiry of the terms of Kirstin Ferguson and Donny Walford in November, and the resignation of Vanessa Guthrie in March.

Mr Fletcher said he was “looking forward to the valuable contribution” of Mr Tonagh, Ms Balfour and Mr D’Orazio.