ABC investigative journalist Louise Milligan has slammed claims that director-general David Anderson quit the broadcaster after a row with chairwoman Kim Williams over a Four Corners exposé.
Anderson abruptly resigned last week, just a year into his second five-year term in office, setting off a tsunami of speculation about the real reason for the decision.
Rumours have since spread that Anderson and Williams had a bitter “difference of opinion” over Milligan’s Four Corners documentary about workplace culture at Seven West Media.
According to sources who spoke to Daily Mail Australia, Williams reportedly told Anderson that the episode of the hit series was “weak as f***” and that she had reservations about airing it.
But Anderson reportedly ignored Williams’ concerns and made the decision to air the episode, even though testimony from a former employee had to be edited out due to legal concerns.
The speculation was reported by journalist James Madden in The Australian’s Media section on Monday, prompting a furious reaction from Milligan on social media.
“The Australian is happy to publish fiction. Once again,” he posted on X.
‘Your story tonight is as fake as the fake private investigators you once claimed on the front page that we had hired.
Investigative journalist Louise Milligan took to X to vehemently deny a clash with outgoing chief executive David Anderson.
ABC chief executive David Anderson has announced he is stepping down from his top job.
“It’s happened so many times in his creepy, weird, obsessive campaign that I shouldn’t be surprised.”
He added: ‘The same journalist who published this latest fiction wrote three years ago that I was ‘at war’ with the director general of ABC when I had only had positive dealings with David Anderson, and instead I was in fact in bed 24/7 recovering from a major operation.
“I don’t understand. It’s all very strange.”
In a later tweet, she revealed that she and Madden were fellow cadets 24 years ago, and remembered him as “a nice, normal, laid-back guy back then.”
“I am saddened that you have chosen to publish false stories about a former colleague who never did you any harm,” Milligan wrote.
The ABC addressed the Australian’s report on Monday afternoon, calling the article “false” in a public statement.
“The ABC informed the journalist before publication that the unsourced claim was unsubstantiated, but The Australian went ahead and published it anyway,” the statement on the broadcaster’s website read.
The tweets come days after Anderson resigned, but he will remain in his post until the new year before collecting his massive pension.
According to the ABC’s annual report for the 2022-23 financial year, the corporation’s chief executive received a total remuneration package of $1,156,969, increasing year-on-year by $120,000.
Under the Commonwealth Pension Scheme, Anderson, who joined the public broadcaster as a bicycle messenger in Adelaide in 1989 and enjoyed a 35-year career at the ABC, is entitled to a CPI-indexed annual pension of at least 37 per cent of his final salary.
That would bring the outgoing ABC chief’s total taxpayer-funded annual pension to nearly $430,000, more than four and a half times the country’s median income.
However, ABC sources have suggested that Anderson may have negotiated an even higher pension package.
Meanwhile, highly respected former Foxtel and Nine executive Amanda Laing is already being tipped as the hot favourite to succeed Anderson when her term ends next year.
Anderson was appointed to a second term in office in 2023, but will step down once a replacement is found.
Louise Milligan criticised The Australian in X
In a note to all ABC staff on Thursday, he said he hoped to remain in the role until at least early 2025.
Anderson said he was grateful to new President Williams and the board for their support and efforts in persuading him to remain in office for a second full term.
“His unabashed enthusiasm for the importance and future of the corporation makes this decision easier,” he said.
“I’m confident that this is the right time for both me and ABC.”
Williams, a former News Limited chief executive who replaced Ita Buttrose as chairman in March, said the delayed resignation would ensure a smooth transition.
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