‘Common enemy’ tears up, betraying the passion for Auntie’s success

Jonathan Shier was supposed to be kryptonite to the ABC’s Superman, but he teared up as he spoke admiringly about the loyalty staff held for Auntie.

The ABC has been accused of being a “sheltered workshop” and routinely breaching its charter. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

Jonathan Shier, the one-time reformist managing director who became the “common enemy” uniting ABC staff against him, now had tears welling in his eyes betraying affection for his old foes. A staff revolt and lack of board support saw Shier leave the ABC in December 2001 after less than two years in the top job.

When I interviewed him in Melbourne last month for my Sky News documentary marking the national broadcaster’s 90th anniversary, Shier was clear about the ABC’s failings. But the depth of his feeling surprised me when I asked about the broadcaster’s self-indulgence; in short, whether the staff saw “our” ABC as “their” ABC.

“Chris, I know exactly what you’re saying,” he began, starting to choke up. “All I’d say is any organisation should be proud of having staff that admire their organisation, so that’s not a fault.”

Former ABC managing director Jonathon Shier interviewed for Your ABC Exposed by Sky News Australia.

This was extraordinary, Shier was supposed to be kryptonite to the ABC’s Superman, Antichrist to their green left religiosity. A year after he was driven from the organisation, The Age reported that staff had not stopped smiling – yet now Shier was tearing up as he spoke admiringly about the loyalty those same staff held for Auntie.

I queried his emotion. “Public broadcasting matters to me,” Shier explained.

This is the paradox of the national broadcaster and the polarised debate about its performance; some of its fiercest critics hanker for its success. There is no serious push to dismantle or “privatise” the ABC – rather, there are pleas to improve it.

While ABC management, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and the self-described ABC Alumni seem to be in denial about issues of ideological bias and lack of political diversity, former board member Janet Albrechtsen says the national broadcaster routinely breaches its charter. In other words, it operates outside the laws that govern it.

Albrechtsen, also a columnist with The Weekend Australian, says ideological conformity has made the ABC boring. “If you shake it up with different views, all of a sudden it becomes entertaining, it becomes informative, it reflects Australia,” the former chairwoman of the Institute of Public Affairs told me. “That’s exactly what the ABC charter requires of the ABC in return for our money, and that’s not happening.”

Richard Alston, who had oversight of the ABC as communications minister from 1996 to 2003, describes the public broadcaster as a “sheltered workshop” and argues it lacks accountability.