PRESS AND POLITICS – AUSTRALIA

Media, foreign leaders step up freedom push

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Jul-19

The ABC and News Corp Australia still do not know if any journalists will be prosecuted following the police raids in early June. ABC MD David Anderson says the public broadcaster has asked Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to intervene, although government sources say that he has no power to do so. The Australian Federal Police raids have attracted scrutiny at the Global Conference for Media Freedom, with human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt expressing concern about the implications of the raids for freedom of the press globally.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, GREAT BRITAIN. FOREIGN OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Media, security balance the goal

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Original article by Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 4 : 10-Jul-19

Foreign Minister Marise Payne will use a speech on 10 July to stress the importance of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. However, she will tell the Global Conference for Media Freedom that the public’s right to know must be balanced against the need to protect Australia’s national interest. Payne’s speech in London comes in the wake of the recent police raids on the Sydney offices of the ABC and the home of a News Corp Australia journalist.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, UNITED NATIONS. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

Bill Shorten warns News Corp against acting like a political party

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Original article by David Crowe
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 13-May-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten claimed on 12 May that parts of News Corporation appear to be acting like political parties in their "campaigning against Labor" in the lead-up to the federal election. Shorten’s comments followed a recent controversial story about his mother in ‘The Daily Telegraph’. He said he has some sympathy for the threat that traditional media faces from social media companies, but that becoming more frenzied is not the solution to their problems. Shorten called on voters to reject the minor parties in the Senate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, ONE NATION PARTY, UNITED AUSTRALIA PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

‘ABC wallowing in money’: Abetz takes swipe at $250,000 bonus

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 7 : 6-Nov-18

Liberal senator Eric Abetz has criticised the ABC’s executive remuneration policy, arguing that the public broadcaster needs to justify its excessively high salaries. Abetz was responding to revelations that one ABC executive was paid more than $692,000 in 2017-18, including a bonus of $232,500. He adds that the ABC and its supporters cannot complain about lack of sufficient funding while paying exorbitant salaries.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, FRIENDS OF THE ABC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

No, minister: ABC defiant

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Original article by Stephen Brook, Sascha O’Sullivan
The Australian – Page: 24 : 22-Oct-18

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has requested information on the scope and time frame of the ABC’s investigation into issues raised by former MD Michelle Guthrie before she was sacked. However, the ABC’s acting chair Kirstin ­Ferguson has told Fifield that it would be inappropriate for herself or any other board member to comment, as they could potentially be in breach of their fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the public broadcaster. The ABC’s acting MD David Anderson will appear before the Senate estimates committee on 23 October.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Coalition ignored best ABC choices

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Original article by Stephen Brook, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 3 : 2-Oct-18

The process for selecting ABC board members has come under scrutiny following the resignation of chairman Justin Milne. In announcing his appointment, the government had said that the independent nominations panel had recommended Milne for the role. However, former panel member Neil Brown says the panel had nominated five contenders and said they were all qualified for the role, but this had not constituted a recommendation. Brown notes that some ABC board members were also appointed despite not having been nominated by the panel. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the next ABC chairman must have bipartisan support.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

Entire ABC board under pressure to go

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Original article by Aaron Patrick, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-18

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for the ABC’s whole board to be replaced following the resignation of chairman Justin Milne and the sacking of MD Michelle Guthrie. Meanwhile, Labor has called for appointments to the board to be made independently of government. The remaining board members have come under scrutiny for continuing to support Milne for several days after they had heard allegations by Guthrie that Milne had asked her to sack journalists who had been the subject of complaints by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, OZEMAIL LIMITED, MYOB GROUP LIMITED – ASX MYO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

‘Standards have deteriorated’: Malcolm Turnbull weighs in on ABC accusation

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Original article by Matthew Knott
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 27-Sep-18

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says there has been a decline in the ABC’s editorial standards in recent years. Turnbull has confirmed that he had raised concerns about the quality of the public broadcaster’s coverage with chairman Justin Milne and other members of the ABC’s board. However, he stresses that he has never complained about any perceived bias in the ABC’s coverage or requested that any ABC staffer be dismissed. Turnbull add that it is the ABC board’s responsibility to address unfair or inaccurate reporting.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Coalition launches inquiry into ABC email revelations as chairman Justin Milne survives board talks

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Original article by Jennifer Duke
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 27-Sep-18

There is growing pressure for ABC chairman Justin Milne to resign in the wake of further revelations about the sacking of MD Michelle Guthrie. The federal government will investigate claims that Milne had asked Guthrie to sack the ABC’s chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici following a complaint from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull about her political coverage. The media has reported that Milne had sent Guthrie an email stating that the government "hated" Alberici and that she must go. Labor has proposed a Senate inquiry into the revelations surrounding Guthrie’s dismissal, and it has accused the Coalition of political interference at the public broadcaster.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Stokes rejects ABC: I didn’t plot to oust PM

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Sep-18

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes has refuted suggestions that himself and fellow media magnate Rupert Murdoch had any role in the demise of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. The ABC has claimed in reports on its evening news bulletin and online that in the lead-up to the ousting of Turnbull, Murdoch told Stokes that Turnbull had to go. The reports were filed by the ABC’s national political editor, Andrew Probyn, who has previously worked for Seven West Media. Stokes says Probyn should therefore know that he does not engage in "speculative political gossip".

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, WEST AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS HOLDINGS LIMITED