Pauline Hanson is demanding the next ABC managing director be given a massive 45 per cent pay cut so Michelle Guthrie’s successor is paid considerably less than the Prime Minister.
The One Nation leader has suggested the head of the national broadcaster be paid the same as any other senior executive public servant, a week after Ms Guthrie was sacked from her $891,000-a-year post.
Senator Hanson nominated the principal executive office band E salary, starting at $488,310, as an appropriate remuneration for an ABC managing director, in her opinion piece published in The Australian.
Pauline Hanson is demanding the next ABC managing director be given a massive 45 per cent pay cut so Michelle Guthrie’s successor is paid considerably less than the Prime Minister
Were this salary cut to be implemented, the ABC managing director would be paid less than Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is on a $538,000-a-year package.
Making her case, Senator Hanson said it was wrong how the ABC paid its most senior executive more than the BBC’s director-general Tony Hall, who is on $810,000.
‘Like many Australians, I don’t understand how we can pay the managing director of the ABC more than the director-general of the BBC when the head of the BBC must manage licence fees and the sale of programs to fund a significantly larger and more complex organisation than our own national broadcaster,’ she said.
Senator Hanson also suggested the ABC’s seven remaining board members be replaced with directors who took seriously accusations of left-wing bias at the organisation, which received $1.1 billion for the 2018/18 financial year in the May federal budget.
The One Nation leader suggested the ABC boss get the same as any other senior executive public servant, a week after Michelle Guthrie (pictured) was sacked from her $891,000 job
‘The next task is to find board members committed to culling producers and presenters who cannot separate their own left-leaning political opinions from accurate and impartial news and information,’ she said.
David Anderson, the ABC’s former head of television, took over as acting managing director on September 24 following the sacking of Michelle Guthrie, halfway through her five-year appointment.
In a week of turmoil, Justin Milne resigned as chairman three days later, after it was alleged he had sought the sackings of chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici and political editor Andrew Probyn to appease former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
One Nation has two senators shares the balance of power in the Senate with 17 other cross-bench lawmakers who aren’t from the major parties.
Senator Hanson has suggested the next ABC boss get a massive pay cut so his or her salary level is significantly less than Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s (pictured) $538,000