Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, , 6:39:55 to 7:02:10
Senator Smith questions the ABC Managing Director about the board's awareness of the controversial July 12 broadcast and the preparation of formal board papers.
Topics: Integrity, Government spending
Speakers: Hugh Marks, Senator Dean Smith, Senator Varun Ghosh
That is not the same as the minister. The distinct impression I got from Noah. No, you took on notice how to do it.
Oh, hand the call to who am I handing the call to caution? Senator Smith.
Thank you very much. Uh just continuing with the episode of Race Around the World on the twelfth of July. Um it's my understanding understanding that under section eight of the ABC Act, the board has a statute duty to ensure the ABC's functions are performed efficiently and with maximum benefit to the Australian people.
Um I think the board understood my insistence that a compliance process should proceed and that we shouldn't prejudge the complaints process that would be prepared to make the decisions on uh as soon as that process was completed. So I I certainly accept there are matters of taste that are also um independent of matters of guidelines. Um but the guidelines are the basis on which the ABC um does operate, so it was I guess an important part of the process to go through that process and then look at what we needed to change out of the back of that, which Mr. Fang has been responsible for those changes.
What date was the board meeting at which the matter was raised, first raised and considered?
I'd have to come back to you on that, Senator.
And actually what was the date of the first board meeting and dates of any subsequent formal or informal board meetings where the matter has been raised? Were board papers prepared?
It would have been part of we we file editorial, you know, complaints process matters are subject to a uh document that goes to board. Um so it would have been as part of that process, um, but I'm not sure of the exact dates or whether there was a board meeting between when the matter happened and when we'd taken the appropriate steps, I'd have to come back to you on that.
If there was, yes, please. If there was no board meeting, what is the mechanism by which you discuss this with the board?
So generally that would be through the chair. Um and the chair would uh talk to me as the managing director is to you know get an understanding of basically the things that I've outlined uh just previously, um, and it's certainly something on which the chair will have a view and will express his view to me and we will agree uh a course of action that I am following, whether that's the appropriate course of action or not.
So with their board if there were if there was a formal board meeting and if there were board papers prepared, if you could make them available to the to the committee. Um was ABC management requested to provide the board with an explanation of how the material had been approved, separate from the complaints documentation that flows to the board in the normal way?
Um Senator, I'm I'm not sure of the exact paper, but I would have updated the board in my managing director's report as to what happened and why. So that often is not subject to a formal board process but a verbal update from me at board meetings.