Peter Tonagh quits ABC board 18 months early and days after Hugh Marks named as managing director
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and an independent panel will now need to find a replacement for the ABC’s deputy chairman just months out from a federal election.
The ABC and Labor are on the hunt for a new deputy to chairman Kim Williams, as media executive Peter Tonagh called time on his stint at the public broadcaster 18 months early.
Mr Tonagh – a former News Corp Australia and Foxtel executive – announced his surprise departure from the ABC board on Christmas Eve.
Once touted as a possible candidate for the chairmanship of the public broadcaster, an ABC spokesman said Mr Tonagh was “very grateful” for his period on the board and wished Mr Williams well.
The resignation comes just days after former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks was unveiled as the ABC’s new managing director.
“Mr Tonagh expressed personal satisfaction and support for the appointment of Hugh Marks as the next managing director from 10 March 2025,” an ABC spokeswoman said in a statement.
“He indicated he thought that the ABC had been well served by its departing managing director David Anderson, who he wished every success in his future endeavours and remarked that he was confident Mr Marks would build strongly on Mr Anderson’s impressive legacy.”
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and an independent panel will now need to find a replacement for Mr Tonagh just months out from a federal election, where Labor is likely to tout its support for the ABC in seats where they face pressure from the Greens.
Mr Tonagh’s resignation comes as Mr Marks says the national broadcaster must focus on being relevant to a wider cross-section of Australia, and has vowed that he won’t be “afraid of making changes” to the organisation.
Following an extensive domestic and international search, Mr Marks was named last week as the replacement for the outgoing Mr Anderson, who announced in August that he was departing the broadcaster just one year into his second five-year term.
In a sit-down interview with The Australian last week, Mr Marks, 58, said the ABC “needs to mean more to more Australians”, and must focus on being relevant.
Mr Marks’s comments closely echo those of Mr Williams, who soon after assuming the role of ABC chair in March said he wanted the national broadcaster to recapture “the heartland of contemporary relevance to Australia and Australians”.
In 2016, while Nine CEO, Mr Marks made a written submission to a Senate committee hearing in which he said Nine was “30 per cent more efficient at producing television than the ABC”.
When he was asked by The Australian last week if he still held that view, Mr Marks said: “I can’t remember the exact facts but I do know that there are things that Nine does incredibly well, and there are probably reasons why the ABC might pursue things differently.”
Bailed partner held after NT woman’s death
A man with a ‘massive’ DV history was recently released on bail on multiple charges of domestic violence against his partner, who was found dead on Monday.
E-scooter operator forced to cough up
Global e-vehicle firm Beam Mobility has been forced to negotiate compensation payouts to seven councils across Australia and New Zealand after being caught out exceeding safety limits.