ABC bosses endorse Ita Buttrose as new chair

The ABC’s acting leadership last night endorsed Ita Buttrose’s appointment as chair of the national broadcaster.

Ita Buttrose. Picture: Hollie Adams

The ABC’s acting leadership last night endorsed journalist and businesswoman Ita Buttrose’s appointment as chair of the national broadcaster.

David Anderson, the ABC acting managing director, said Ms Buttrose was an “eminent Australian with vast experience as an editor and media executive”.

“Her leadership of the ABC, a highly valued and trusted cultural institution, is welcomed,” he said.

Kirstin Ferguson, the ABC acting chair, said Ms Buttrose would be a valuable addition to the ABC board.

“Ita Buttrose is one of the greats of Australian media — and an iconic, widely admired Australian,” she said.

“She will bring valuable experience to the ABC board and I look forward to working with her.”

Her appointment will be formally announced as chair today.

Morrison’s cabinet picks Buttrose as next chair

Earlier, Scott Morrison’s cabinet ­decided Ita Buttrose would lead the ABC.

Senior government sources confirmed cabinet had chosen Ms Buttrose as the public broadcaster’s next chair, vacated by Justin Milne amid controversy at the top of the ABC’s leadership in September.

Labor criticised the process to choose the replacement ABC chair after it was revealed the independent selection panel had not considered Ms Buttrose, triggering claims of “political ­interference”.

Mr Morrison confirmed the panel had not put forward a ­female candidate to government.

Under the ABC Act, the government is required to consult the opposition leader about the appointment but Bill Shorten’s office was last night unable to confirm if that had occurred.

“Ita Buttrose is a perfectly nice person and she’s been in the media and she’s been a very successful and respected figure but the government’s bungled this process. They’ve paid money to have a process to get a shortlist and then they’ve ignored it themselves,” Mr Shorten said.

Mr Morrison effectively endorsed Ms Buttrose, 77, for the appointment on Monday and acknowledged he had known her for a long time.

“She’s an extraordinary Australian, an Australian of the Year and there have been few people more than Ita that I think have lifted the standards of journalism in this country and I think that says a lot about her character and her abilities,” the Prime Minister told ABC TV.

Ms Buttrose was the founding editor of Cleo magazine. In 1975, aged 33, she became the youngest editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, a position she held until 1981 when she became editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

Ms Buttrose was most ­recently a panellist on Network 10’s Studio 10, which she left last year after a five-year stint on the morning program.

Global recruitment firm Korn Ferry was tasked with finding the top candidates for the ABC chair, with the short-list believed to have included former Fairfax Media chief executive Greg ­Hywood, former News Corp chief executive Kim Williams, Danny Gilbert from law firm ­Gilbert + Tobin, and Ian Robertson of law firm Holding Redlich.

The Greens earlier slammed speculation Ms Buttrose would become the next chair.