Former ABC boss Michelle Guthrie denies attempt to sack journalist and accuses Justin Milne of inappropriate touching
Sacked ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has denied colluding with former chairman Justin Milne to fire the broadcaster’s chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici, despite an email exchange discussing the reporter’s “external development opportunities”.
The plan was revealed in a Four Corners documentary examining the events that saw Guthrie fired in late September and Milne resign a few days later after accusations of editorial interference and inappropriate behaviour.
Former ABC general manager Michelle Guthrie denies ‘external development opportunities’ was corporate-speak for firing a staffer
In the investigation, it was revealed Guthrie had alleged inappropriate behaviour by Milne shortly after she was given a formal warning by the chairman and fellow director Donny Walford.
Guthrie claimed Milne touched her at a board dinner in November 2017. The investigation went on to to claim the chairman rubbed her back while the group was meeting at Sydney’s Billy Kwong restaurant.
Milne denies the accusation.
Guthrie, a former Google Asia executive and CEO of Rupert Murdoch owned Star-TV in Hong Kong who joined the ABC at the end of 2015 on a five-year contract, received the formal warning from Walford and Milne after board members discovered the the ABC was more than $70m over budget.
In the warning, Milne told Guthrie: “The reason we have asked you to meet with us today is that we need to inform you that the Board has deep concerns about your position as MD and to inform you that your performance cannot continue in its present form.”
Guthrie told the ABC Four Corners team she did not see that as a formal warning.
The board’s dissatisfaction with Guthrie followed a series of fights with communications minister Mitch Fifield and other cabinet members over the broadcaster’s reaction to budget cuts, reports by political editor Andrew Probyn and Alberici’s story criticising the government’s corporate tax plan.
Milne saw the disputes as a threat to the funding of his Project Jetstream digital transformation program.
With Alberici, the two discussed the veteran journalist’s “external development opportunities” as discussed in the transcript taken from ABC TV’s Four Corners report:
JUSTIN MILNE:
I said words to the effect of, “What are we doing … ” Really, “What are we doing about Emma?” I said, “Sure – but I thought you were going to be discussing “external development opportunities” with her”.“I thought that we were looking at external career development opportunities,” was the stupid term that I used for Emma. Michelle came back and said, “We are. But this interference from Mitch is not helpful.”
MICHELLE GUTHRIE:
That email exchange goes on, Milne says, ” I thought you were going to be discussing external development opportunities with her.” You responded, “We are. but this missive from Mitch isn’t helpful.” What did you mean by ‘we are’?MICHELLE GUTHRIE:
Well, again, it was having a conversation with her about her career. It was having a conversation, and these conversations were run by Gaven and her news team.SARAH: What did you mean by external development opportunities?
JUSTIN MILNE:
Yeah, that’s a-SARAH: Career development opportunities?
JUSTIN MILNE:
That’s a silly corporate euphemism for firing her.SARAH: Justin Milne says that that phrase, ‘external development opportunities’, is his corporate speak that you would understand to mean firing?
MICHELLE GUTHRIE:
No.SARAH: To be clear, it was “external development opportunities”, which is external to the ABC. He’s not talking about a conversation around her being moved inside the ABC, he’s talking about external, to which you agree?
MICHELLE GUTHRIE:
Yes.SARAH: So there was a question that Emma might be moved out of the ABC?
MICHELLE GUTHRIE:
Well, there was a question where Emma might choose to leave the ABC.SARAH: What about if she didn’t choose, was that part of the conversation as well?
MICHELLE GUTHRIE:
No, it wasn’t. There was never a conversation about firing Emma.
Following a review by the ABC of Alberici’s reporting of the government’s tax changes, the ABC agreed that the original news story headline and ‘teasers’ for both stories were materially inaccurate but stood by the substance of the pieces.
Guthrie has launched legal proceedings against the ABC over her dismissal. The case is ongoing.
Attacks on Emma Alberici are simply part of the witch-hunt against the ABC by the Rightist media and its Rightist comment-a-crowd. As is obvious, repetition creates reputation, or notoriety. Her true crime was to oppose the corporate tax cuts, for good reasons, and with a much higher standard of argument than her critics. Had she supported those corporate tax cuts, she would have been ignored or praised regardless of the merits of her argument. It really is as simple as that.
But of course the Right is not interested in debate, it is interested in making more money – $30 billion or so, to be precise. A lot of CEOs were looking forward to a suitable pay increase – only for themselves, of course.
User ID not verified.
This is for the Moderator/Editor – you might want to adjust Justine Milne to Justin Milne? in the first paragraph of this article.
User ID not verified.
Hi Justine,
We’ve fixed that. Sorry about the mistake.
Regards,
Paul
It was an odd program, and no one came out well.
I think Guthrie came across as out of her depth and inept – but also quite earnest and speaking her own truth.
Milne, by contrast, came across as dodgy and untrustworthy.
User ID not verified.
Thing is: both of them were intensely playing their spin. Neither of them gave any sort of impression that they understood how much was at stake for the ABC. Milne seemed to think his tech toy project was a magic bullet. Guthrie was just clueless, clearly playing a lawyer brief.
I happen to think Alberici was way off the reservation, but the problem is not her but the standards and discipline within ABC news. They seem to laud guys like Stephen Long, who is simply a recyclist and no more (and I doubt he can even find his own bike these days).
User ID not verified.