By Situation Theatre 3/3/2019
It’s also some relief that the five most recent ABC Board members, chosen by the Liberal Communications Minister, and the ABC Chair, hand-picked by the Liberal PM, all guarantee the ABC’s independence.
For those with grave concerns for the independence and integrity of the ABC, fear no longer.
Ita Buttrose, a woman who spent most of her journalistic career working for either the Packers or the Murdochs, two of the most ethical media mogul families in Australia, has been handpicked to serve as ABC Chair by one of the most conservative Prime Ministers in Australian history. Apparently this is a positive development.
Buttrose began her career with Sir Frank Packer’s Australian Consolidated Press. She worked her way up to women’s editor at The Daily Telegraph and then combined with Packer to create Cleo in 1972.
In 1981 she was poached by Rupert Murdoch and became the Editor-in-Chief of the Telegraph, which Packer had sold to Murdoch in 1972. She was also appointed to the board of News Limited around this time.
She has since starred on commercial television in hard-hitting news shows such as Studio 10, Today, and Beauty and the Beast.
Impressed with her work over many decades, Australian Prime Minister Rupert Murdoch knew Buttrose would be the perfect choice to carry on his project of upholding the independence and integrity of the ABC. As a result he instructed his intern Scott Morrison to bypass the whole recruitment process and announce her appointment on Thursday.
Buttrose will join Liberal Party Donor Donny Walford and Australia’s Chief Coal Lobbyist Dr Vanessa Guthrie on the ABC board to continue Murdoch’s life’s work of corrupting all of Australia’s worthwhile institutions.