Malcolm in the middle… again

Keep your heads down, folks. Prepare yourself for the ghastly din of the ABC engaging in impassioned discourse with itself. It could go on for months.

Let’s not be too harsh. Remember, one man’s narcissism is another man’s yearning for self-concept. And it does make a nice change from the federal government talking endlessly about itself. The Morrison government is quite pleased to have the topic of the national conversation moved along.

At the same time, Morrison and the gang will be keen not to dig too deeply into the ABC morass as there is the considerable chance of a political back splash.

The allegations are serious and involve the former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, allegedly throwing his weight around in calls to the ABC Chairman, Justin Milne and again, allegedly, calling for the summary dismissal of two ABC journalists.

Malcolm Turnbull has denied he issued instructions for any journalist to be sacked. Milne, in turn, has said he was never asked to hire or fire.

All I’ll say is the English language is a wondrous thing and people who are known to use it well, like lawyers for example, are quite capable of saying one thing while meaning another.

The only way to get to the bottom of this is a judicial inquiry where evidence is given under oath. Just between you and me and the gate post, that will not be happening as there is considerable downside for the Morrison government with the possibility of it becoming involved in a scandal it cannot control.

Aware of the political risks, the Morrison government thinks it better to summon up the memory of a dozen Yes, Minister episodes and launch a departmental inquiry where the findings are almost certainly known in advance and a press statement of the “It is a deep and abiding mystery. Let us never speak of this again” kind is released around 5.30pm on a Friday.

But wait, Labor and the Greens have called for a Senate inquiry. We shouldn’t get our hopes up there either. The Senate, collectively, could not find their own arses with a sextant and a well-thumbed copy of Gray’s Anatomy.

Ultimately, we will never know the extent of the Turnbull government’s interference into the running of the ABC. Perhaps those who do not think kindly of the ABC will say this does not matter but it does. The ABC is a public broadcaster, not a state one. It is owned by you and by me, not the government of the day.

I seek to add some further evidence. It is circumstantial, certainly, but it speaks of an often irate prime minister who has made his displeasure known to a number of institutions, private and public, over the telephone and immediately after those calls, people have been given their marching orders.

On Anzac Day, 2015 an SBS sports reporter, Scott McIntrye, tweeted up some truly awful remarks regarding Australia’s involvement in World War One. Some of the worst of it if was directed at Australian servicemen from that appalling conflict, all now deceased.

The controversy quickly spiralled into a debate around free-speech and the limits around using employer-linked twitter accounts to express personal views.

Back when he was a mere minister for communications, Malcolm Turnbull publicly condemned Mr McIntyre’s comments describing them as “despicable remarks which deserved to be condemned.”

It’s impossible to disagree with Turnbull’s comments but his intervention went further. Turnbull then discussed McIntyre’s tweets directly with the broadcaster’s managing director Michael Ebeid in a late-night phone call on the very same day.

McIntyre was sacked the following morning. Both SBS and Mr Turnbull denied the Minister had directed SBS to take any action in relation to McIntyre’s employment.

Then there was a telephone call Turnbull as Prime Minister made to Cricket Australia Chairman, David Peever, in the immediate aftermath of the ball tampering brouhaha. The contents of what was later described as a “frank discussion” were not disclosed but Test captain, Steve Smith and his vice-captain, David Warner, both ‘agreed’ to stand down from their leadership positions that very same day, right in the middle of the match, pending further action from Cricket Australia. Australia was captained by Tim Paine in days four and five of the Third Test in Johannesburg.

“We all woke up this morning shocked and bitterly disappointed by the news from South Africa,” Turnbull said.

“It seemed completely beyond the belief, that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating. After all, our cricketers are role models. And cricket is synonymous with fair play. How can our team be involved in cheating like this? It beggars belief.”

“(David Peever) has said to me that Cricket Australia will be responding decisively, as they should.”

I’d like to think Cricket Australia’s response to a call of this kind would have been, “Malcolm, if we need you to pop the pads on and bat at four for Australia, we’ll let you know. Don’t call us et cetera etc.”

As a rule of thumb, Cricket Australia should not be copping lectures on ethics from politicians for rather obvious reasons.

Remember the FIFA World Cup when the Optus streaming service collapsed? Turnbull jumped in then, too.

“I had a call with Allen Lew, with Optus, to seek his assurance that the failures in the streaming service have been rectified,” Turnbull said.

Did he think he could solve a complex technical problem by sheer weight of a telephone call? Apparently, Turnbull thought so but Optus put the white flag up a day later and handed its exclusive coverage of the tournament over to SBS.

No one was sacked on this occasion or at least not publicly but at the time it stood as an odd form of intervention by the then prime minister. One has to wonder whether this was a sound use of his time. Perhaps Turnbull, uncertain of his authority within his own parliamentary party, felt he had to impose it elsewhere.

Sadly, we will never get to the bottom of this. The political stakes are too high. I am sure Malcolm Turnbull would welcome the opportunity to set the record straight under oath because as it stands there is abundant evidence of a tendency to engage in matters where he did not belong.

This column was published in The Australian 28 September, 2018