Victorian Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger has called for the sacking of ABC chair Ita Buttrose

Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger has slammed the ABC, describing their shows as ‘political acid’ and said chair Ita Buttrose should resign.

ABC chair Ita Buttrose.

Former Victorian Liberal Party president and ABC board member Michael Kroger has lashed out at the public broadcaster’s chair Ita Buttrose, describing her as “a hopeless failure” and called on her to resign immediately.

Mr Kroger didn’t hold back in slamming Ms Buttrose who he said was allowing the ABC to push an anti-Liberal agenda.

Appearing on Sky News on Wednesday night with host Chris Kenny, Mr Kroger said Ms Buttrose had done a terrible job in reining in the ongoing bias against conservative politicians including members of the Morrison government.

He said many of the public broadcaster’s programs were shockingly one-sided including weekly news and current affairs chat feast Q+A which he described as “political acid”.

Mr Kroger was an ABC board member for five years from 1998 to 2003.

Mr Kroger said the bias against the Coalition and conservative politicians was out of control and said Ms Buttrose, who was appointed in 2019, had left many people including Liberal frontbenchers “disappointed”.

“The board can influence a managing director but it’s like a pyramid, the board is at the top but you can’t get down, seven or eight rungs down the ladder, to get to the people who are the culprits,” Mr Kroger said on Sky News.

“Ita should resign, she’s been a terrible failure, there’s people in the Coalition including people in the cabinet who regret her appointment.

“She’s lost control of the board, the board has lost control of the managing director (David Anderson) and the managing director has certainly lost control of news and current affairs.”

Mr Kroger said many programs were lopsided and leaned heavily to the left, failing to do their job in ensuring it was balanced and impartial.

“The ABC staff are more powerful than ever, they have weaponised Four Corners, Q+A in particular, which is like acid, political acid in the face of the Liberal Party,” Mr Kroger said.

“The Drum, these current affairs are just weaponised against the Coalition.”

He said Four Corners had evidence of a senior federal Labor frontbencher being involved in inappropriate behaviour but failed to publish the story.

Kenny also criticised the public broadcaster and said the case against Christian Porter involving the ABC, “was disgusting stuff to put into the public arena”.

Mr Kroger said Scott Morrison’s appointment of Ms Buttrose was wrong but “you can’t get everything right in life”.

“This was a bad appointment by the Coalition cabinet,” he said.

“She’s been a hopeless failure and she should resign, she’s lost control of the ABC, it’s more biased against the Coalition than I’ve ever seen it, it’s worse than I’ve ever seen.

“She seems to have no influence, it’s like a train that has got no driver.”