Despite the spin, Conroy and Rudd will appoint whom they like to ABC and SBS boards

Tue, 11th November 2008

Senator the Hon Nick Minchin
Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate

Claims in Question Time today by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that Labor’s new board appointment process for the ABC and SBS will restore integrity and be free from political interference are pure nonsense.
“Despite Senator Conroy’s blatantly misleading claims that the Labor process will be independent and at arms length from the Government, his own policy states that he can simply ignore the recommendations of the Nomination Panel and seek approval from the Prime Minister to appoint whoever he wants,” Shadow Communications Minister Nick Minchin said.
And in relation to the position of chair of the ABC Board the successful candidate will be selected by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Minister from a short-list supplied by the Nomination Panel.
“Again, the Prime Minister has the authority to ignore the panel’s recommendations and appoint whoever he likes, even if they weren’t on the nomination panel’s list,” Senator Minchin said.
In The Australian today respected journalist Malcolm Colless labelled the Government’s claim of restoring independence to the appointment process as “political spin”.
“Kevin Rudd will not be too far removed from this whole process. And this becomes more evident when you look at how the appointment procedure will work,” he wrote.
Senator Minchin said the Coalition also remained “steadfastly opposed” to Labor’s plan to reinstate a staff representative on the ABC Board. In 2006, the Coalition removed the requirement for the ABC Board to include a staff elected director.
“There is a fundamental conflict of interest with a staff-elected appointment that just doesn’t work and as we have seen in the past, such an appointment undermines the board’s integrity and its ability to perform,” Senator Minchin said.
Malcolm Colless described the move as a disgraceful waste of time and money.
“If he (Senator Conroy) goes ahead with this ill-considered move, Conroy must bind the staff director to the same confidentiality provisions that apply to other directors. Failure to do so will quickly destabilise the board.”