Ita Buttrose has revealed she will not seek reappointment as ABC chair when her current term ends in March. News of her upcoming departure comes just four days after she hinted she could stay on in the role.
The ABC held a zoom board meeting on Tuesday morning where Buttrose is understood to have broken the news of her decision to her fellow directors.
The 81-year-old also advised the federal government of her decision, after she said on Melbourne radio on Friday that she was “mulling over” whether to stay.
But it hasn’t taken long for speculation to begin about who will now replace Buttrose, with a mix of Labor-aligned figures and media executives being floated for the role.
Buttrose’s announcement comes seven months before her term ends on March 6, and the federal government will begin a new selection process in due course.
Buttrose, in a statement, thanks former prime minister Scott Morrision for her appointer her in 2019 and also thanked the Communications Minister Rowland.
“I have enjoyed my time at the ABC immensely and am honoured to have chaired such a great Australian institution for five years,” she said.
“There have been many memories, some challenges, and I have relished the opportunity to play a role in the ABC’s history.”
Minister Rowland thanked Ms Buttrose for her service at the public broadcaster and said she was “the right chair for the right time”.
“Ms Buttrose is a giant of Australia’s media industry, and the Government thanks her for her exemplary service as Chair of the ABC,” she said in a statement.
“Ms Buttrose is a formidable corporate leader who has served with distinction, speaking truth to power and upholding governance standards to protect independent public broadcasting.
“She has much to do in the remainder of her term and will leave the ABC stronger than when she was entrusted with the role in 2019.
“She navigated the public broadcaster through a challenging period that included strident political criticism, the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing transformation of the ABC so it can remain an essential part of Australian life in the digital age.”
Buttrose was Mr Morrison’s “captain’s pick” in 2019 and he said at the time she had the government’s trust to lead the public broadcaster after a period of unprecedented turmoil, following the sudden departures of her predecessor Justin Milne and the-then managing director Michelle Guthrie.
“Australians trust Ita. I trust Ita and that’s why I have asked her to take on this role,” Mr Morrison said in 2019.
However, relations subsequently soured between Mr Morrison and Buttrose, with the ABC chair known to have been upset by strident criticism of the public broadcaster by the former Coalition Government.
There are another two open vacancies on the ABC board after the departure of Melbourne businessman Joe Gersh in May and Fiona Balfour in January.
Balfour, the former chief information officer at Qantas and Telstra,
left three years before her term ended over a potential conflict of interest.
These vacancies, plus the looming departure of Buttrose, allow the Labor government to put its own stamp on the ABC by choosing a sizable chunk of the board.
ABC 7.30 chief political correspondent Laura Tingle was the most recently appointed board member, she took up the staff-elected position and her term runs until 2028.
ABC managing director David Anderson’s five-year term also ends in May next year and it’s unclear what his plans will be.
Already, there is a Melbourne Cup field of prospective candidates emerging as possible replacements for the media legend.
The leading internal candidate is current ABC deputy chair Peter Tonagh. But there is already talk that the Government will look outside the public broadcaster for a fresh chair.
One candidate already being mentioned in dispatches is a very Labor-friendly media figure: Kim Williams, the son-in-law of the late PM Gough Whitlam, and the one-time CEO of both Foxtel and News Corp Australia.
Another is Danny Gilbert, the co-founder of high-flying law firm Gilbert + Tobin, who is believed to have been closely considered for the ABC chair’s role when Malcolm Turnbull was still PM, before the former Telstra executive Justin Milne was appointed to the role for his short-lived but tumultuous stint back in 2017. Mr Gilbert is seen as Labor-friendly, and is currently co-chair with Rachel Perkins of the strongly pro-voice body, Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition.
Michael Lee, communications minister under Paul Keating’s government, is also considered to be a leading contender because of his experience in the portfolio, but another Labor communications minister under the Rudd/Gillard administration, Stephen Conroy, is not popular in the current Labor administration.
A leading female candidate, who is respected by both sides of politics, is AFL commissioner and former National Film and Sound Archive chair **rielle Trainor, who has also been on a raft of government infrastructure boards. Ms Trainor at one point worked as press secretary for ex-Attorney-General (and one-time deputy PM), Lionel Bowen.
Former senior Labor politicians who could also come into calculations include ex-PM Julia Gillard, former Opposition leader Kim Beazley and ex-Queensland Premier and current Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh.
During Buttrose’s tenure the ABC developed a five-year plan to bolster inclusivity efforts and she maintained her focus on boosting women’s representation in the media.
However there’s been plenty of issues along the way including most recently the fallout involving ABC presenter Stan Grant who criticised the ABC for not supporting him following the backlash from the broadcaster’s coverage in the lead up to King Charles III’s coronation.
Buttrose has openly expressed concerns about ongoing issues with ABC staff’s use of social media, which has resulted in the ABC having to roll out multiple versions of a social media policy to curb this misuse of their social media accounts.
There have also been numerous editorial bungles along the way including accuracy around the Ghost Train Fire series and Juanita Nielsen documentary, a review of its complaints-handling system, overhaul of its trouble-plagued radio arm and the appointment of an ABC ombudsman last year.
A nomination panel, led by chair Helen Williams works through applications for ABC and SBS board positions and then it provides a shortlist of at least three candidates per vacancy to the government, who then make the ultimate decision.
