Prime Minister Scott Morrison demands the ABC ‘get back to work’ following upheaval

Scott Morrison has issued a warning to the ABC after a leadership crisis last week at the national broadcaster resulted in the loss of its chairman and managing director.

The Prime Minister demanded the ABC ‘get back to work’ saying it is up to the board to ensure the organisation is well run after a ‘pretty ordinary’ week.

‘I think the ABC needs to stop talking about itself and get back to work,’ he told ABC Insiders on Sunday.

Milne had emailed Ms Guthrie demanding she ‘get rid’ of chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici (pictured) to appease the government

Host Barrie Cassidy was quick to point out nobody at the public broadcaster stopped work during the tumultuous week.

In contrast, the coalition government suspended parliament during the recent Liberal Party leadership crisis, and Mr Morrison postponed a meeting with state and territory leaders soon after taking the job.

Former ABC chairman Justin Milne, a friend and business associate of Malcolm Turnbull, was forced to resign last week after it was revealed he demanded several journalists be sacked to appease the federal government.

Mr Morrison said he didn’t know what was in Mr Milne’s mind at the time, but he expected the ABC board under acting chairwoman Kirstin Ferguson to do better.

Scott Morrison has issued a warning to the ABC after a leadership crisis last week at the national broadcaster resulted in the loss of its chairman and managing director 

‘Dr Ferguson needs to get on and settle the ship down to make sure they get back to doing what they should be doing in an independent and an unbiased way, to get the facts right, and to ensure they perform the duties the Australian people pay them to do,’ he said.

‘I expect the ABC board to do better. And if they don’t, well, they can expect a bit more attention from me.’

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said the ‘extraordinary’ interventions of the former ABC chairman exposed a poor culture between the government and its appointments to the public broadcaster’s board.

‘We do need a parliamentary inquiry to get to the bottom of exactly what interference occurred, what the board knew and when they knew it,’ Mr Bowen told Sky News.

‘It is just unquestionably black and white, open and shut wrong on behalf of the chairman, and that culture appears to have been allowed to continue under the Liberal government.’   

ABC staff last Wednesday called on embattled chairman Justin Milne to step down after leaked emails suggested he wanted a high-profile journalist sacked because former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was unhappy with her reporting.

Angry workers passed a unanimous motion calling on Mr Milne, a long-time friend of Mr Turnbull, to stand down while investigations examined allegations he sought to have ABC presenter Emma Alberici fired.

Staff called on an independent inquiry into the allegations on Wednesday, saying: ‘the idea behind the investigation is to secure the editorial independence of the ABC from top to bottom,’ at a meeting coordinated by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance.

Federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has since launched an investigation into the matter. 

Hundreds of ABC staff and journalists gathered in the foyer at the corporation’s Sydney headquarters to demand chairman Justin Milne step down

Workers passed a unanimous motion calling on Milne to stand down while investigations examined allegations he sought to have ABC presenter Emma Alberici fired

In an email leaked to Fairfax from the chair to former ABC chief executive Michelle Guthrie in May, Mr Milne reportedly wrote: ‘I think it’s simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC — not Emma. There is no guarantee they [the Coalition] will lose the next election’.

Mr Turnbull had complained to Milne about a controversial report by Ms Alberici on corporate tax, which had angered the coalition.

It has been a tumultuous week for the ABC, with Mr Milne and the ABC board sacking Ms Guthrie on Monday just halfway through her five-year term.

Ms Guthrie said she was devastated by the decision and was considering legal action.

The uproar within ABC ranks over Mr Milne’s attempt to secretly ‘get rid’ of Ms Alberici is because the chair of the national broadcaster is supposed to act independently of the Government. 

Responding  to the furore, Mr Milne released a statement on Wednesday morning saying:  ‘The job of the ABC Board is to independently govern the Corporation, protect its best interests, ensure that it is well funded, well managed and that our content is of the highest standards.

In an email leaked to Fairfax, Milne reportedly wrote: ‘I think it’s simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC — not Emma. There is no guarantee they [the Coalition] will lose the next election’

Hundreds of employees were pictured at the front of the ABC office in Ultimo Wednesday

‘That is precisely what the Board has done and will continue to do. I do not propose to provide a running commentary on day to day issues which arise in pursuit of our duties.’ 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison also weighed in on the scandal,  saying: ‘I expect the ABC to act in a professional way, I expect everyone who works there to respect the fact that it’s funded by Australian taxpayers’. 

‘And it should conduct itself in an independent and unbiased way, that’s what I expect of the ABC, that’s what all Australians expect of the ABC.’ 

ABC political commentator Barrie Cassidy took to Twitter Wednesday to express his opinions, writing: ‘Justin Milne’s exposed rationale behind its stance on a govt complaint goes to the heart of the ABCs independence. And he’s the chairman!’.

Hundreds of ABC employees stood in alliance as they crowded the Ultimo office’s foyer demanding Milne step down from his position. 

‘This meeting calls on the chairman to publicly acknowledge if the political interference in the reported email is true and, if so, immediately resign from his position,’ a Tweet from ABC anchor Matt Wordsworth read.

Employees held banners reading ‘no political interference’ and ‘hands off ABC’ 

There were swarms of angry employees outside the MEAA meeting demanding Milne to step down

Ms Guthrie, a former Google executive, was sent an email by Milne demanding she ‘get rid’ of chief economics correspondent and former Lateline presenter Emma Alberici to appease the government.

‘They hate her,’ Milne wrote in the email which a source close to the ABC board gave to Fairfax.

‘We are tarred with her brush. I think it’s simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC – not Emma. There is no guarantee they [the Coalition] will lose the next election,’ it continued.

The email was circulated to ABC board members last week ahead of Ms Guthrie’s sacking as managing director Monday, halfway through her five-year appointment.

MEAA official Greg Miskelly (pictured) spoke to media as ABC staff held a meeting at their offices

Unhappy employees splurged onto the street following a meeting discussing Milne’s leaked emails

Milne was also strongly opposed to changing Triple J’s Hottest 100 to January 27, reportedly saying in a separate email ‘Malcolm [Turnbull] will go ballistic’.

He allegedly tried to convince the ABC board to keep the annual music countdown date on Australia Day to keep the then prime minister happy.  

Mr Turnbull had also been angered at Ms Alberici’s analysis slamming company tax cuts, a Liberal Party policy, and his Communications Minister Mitch Fifield lodged a formal complaint.

In April, her story was pulled from the ABC website and a subsequent review found it contained nine factual errors, including confusing revenue with profit and omitting how companies like Qantas had made a loss for several years.     

One employee carried a large sign out of the office which called on ‘no political interference’

ABC 7.30 anchor Lee Sales tweeted that her efforts to have key players on Wednesday evening’s program had been unsuccessful

A fortnight before Ms Guthrie was dumped by the ABC board, she was summoned to meet Milne and another board member Donny Walford after they had sent her a letter asking her to quit, The Australian has learned.

Ms Guthrie, however, refused to go, sources familiar with the situation told the newspaper.

‘I don’t want to resign, I don’t think I have done anything wrong,’ she reportedly said.

‘I’ve brought all these people along for the transformation (of the ABC), we’ve gone through all the pain.’

ABC 7.30 anchor Leigh Sales tweeted that her efforts to have key players on Wednesday evening’s program had been unsuccessful.

Several other top ABC staff took to Twitter expressing their stance on Milne’s leaked emails, standing in solidarity as they called on him to stand down.

ABC staff rallied on Twitter to have Milne stand down from his position as chairman