Peter Costello resigns as Nine Entertainment chairman

Peter Costello departs three days after a confrontation with a journalist ending, at least in the short-term, a crisis that has exposed Nine’s ugly underbelly.

Peter Costello at Canberra airport last Thursday. Picture: Liam Mendes

Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello has resigned, three days after a physical confrontation with a journalist at Canberra Airport, ending – at least in the short-term – a crisis that has exposed the ugly underbelly of the media company and sent its share price spiralling.

Long-serving Nine board member and deputy chair ­Catherine West was announced as Mr Costello’s replacement.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange on Sunday afternoon, Nine Entertainment announced that Mr Costello, 66, had resigned, effective immediately. The former federal treasurer, who has been Nine chairman since February 2016, referenced the turmoil that had engulfed the company in recent weeks in a statement.

“I thank the board for their ­support over the last decade and particularly during the events of the last few weeks,” Mr Costello said. “I wish the board, the ­employees and the company well. There are enormous challenges ahead but I believe Nine is the best placed Australian media company to weather them and prosper.”

Political, business and media identities praised Mr Costello for his chairmanship of the Nine Network and his work at the $223bn Future Fund, but none said he should have remained at the helm of the media giant after his alleged assault on a reporter at Canberra Airport last week.

“Peter has made a fine contribution to our country – arguably our best ever treasurer – and that’s what I remember on what must be a tough day for him,” Mr Abbott told The Australian shortly after Mr Costello’s resignation was announced.

Nine has been mired in controversy over the past three weeks, since The Australian revealed that one of Nine’s most powerful figures, long-serving Nine news boss Darren Wick, had left the media organisation soon after a serious allegation of sexual harassment had been levelled against him.

Mr Costello and Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby were aware of the allegation but it was not publicly disclosed at the time.

Following that story, a wave of current and former Nine news staff, almost all women, came forward, anonymously, to complain about the “toxic” culture that had flourished during the tenure of Mr Costello’s chairmanship.

Last Thursday, Mr Costello had a physical confrontation with The Australian’s journalist Liam Mendes at Canberra Airport. That incident enraged staff across the company’s editorial floor.

As one senior Nine insider told The Australian on the weekend: “Day in, day out, Nine’s journalists are required to approach people for comment in the same way that Mendes did to Peter. For Peter to manhandle a journalist in that situation was the worst possible thing he could have done. What message did that send to his own journalists?”

Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In a note to staff on Sunday, Mr Sneesby said: “I want to thank Peter for his contribution to Nine over more than a decade. As the announcement makes clear, he has played an important role in the big Nine milestones over that time – a period marked by dramatic digital transformation for the media industry and our company.

“Our deputy chair Catherine West has been appointed as chair and will lead existing plans for board renewal. It has been a challenging few weeks for our company and I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to all of you for your hard work.

“Thanks to you, we have continued to produce the best news, current affairs, sport and entertainment in the country across Nine’s various businesses. I also want to call out our people who have covered the ‘Nine story’. It’s never easy covering your own company but your professionalism and independence has been exemplary.”

Mr Sneesby did not reference the fact he, too, had in recent weeks been the subject of fierce media speculation with regards to his future. The 50-year-old reportedly approved a near $1m payout to Wick when the news veteran left the company on March 15, after a 29-year stint with Nine. That decision raised concern about governance issues with Nine, and it’s understood several members of the seven-person Nine board were unhappy with Mr Sneesby’s decision to sign off on Wick’s golden handshake.

In response to claims that Nine was beset by a “toxic culture”, that reportedly left female staff too scared to report instances of inappropriate conduct and bullying by senior colleagues, Mr Sneesby ordered an investigation into the company’s newsroom processes. “The board’s support for the review shouldn’t necessarily be read as support for Sneesby,” one source said last week.

Peter Costello at Parliament House following the airport incident last Thursday. Picture: David Beach

The review will be conducted by Intersection, an external organisation “specialising in trauma-informed workplace cultural transformation and in creating safe, respectful and ­inclusive workplaces” and will be finalised by the end of July.

The Australian understands former Nine staff who signed deeds of release in relation to details of misconduct by male executives at Nine will be able to participate in the review, even if they are, as per the terms of their departure or settlement, not ­legally entitled to do so.

That scenario could result in a widening of the scandal, The Australian has been told.

In a farewell public statement, Mr Costello said he had previously flagged with the Nine board that he would look to retire by the company’s annual general meeting in November “at the latest”.

In reference to the rolling misconduct scandal at Nine, he said: “The company has set up a robust process to investigate historical complaints which has my full support. I believe it will get to the bottom of any unknown issues.”

On Friday, Nine’s share price closed at $1.40, down more than 10 per cent from the day prior to when the allegations against Wick were first reported.