& #39;Milne also wanted Guthrie to “shoot” political editor Andrew Probyn because the government hated him too and his continued presence was putting at risk half-a-billion dollars in funding for the ABC.& #39;
& #39;Assuming Milne and Guthrie were telling the truth, there could not be a clearer instance of how the government was using funding to undermine the ABC’s editorial independence.& #39;
& #39;In May 2018, Barnaby Joyce accepted a reported $150,000 fee to appear with his lover on Channel Seven and talk about the affair that ended Joyce’s marriage and was a breach of the ministerial code of conduct. The ABC asked me to write a commentary on it.& #39;
& #39;I filed an article saying Joyce’s decision to take money for telling a story that concerned his public duties called into question his fitness for public office. There was an awkward response from within the ABC indicating some disquiet further up the line...& #39;
,& #39;Would I mind not saying that about Joyce? The rest of that exchange was off the record, but suffice to say I minded very much and withdrew the article. It later appeared unchanged in The Conversation and The Age.& #39;
& #39;That incident – small in itself but large in principle – revealed a malaise in editorial leadership at several levels.& #39;
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