Justin Milne resigns as ABC chairman after crisis board meeting

After vowing to stay on as chairman of the ABC yesterday, Justin Milne has today resigned from the position in a sudden turn of events.

The ABC Board held a crisis meeting this morning about the future of Milne at the company.

Milne is understood to have handed in his resignation around 12pm. This comes four days after the surprise sacking of former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie.

Milne’s resignation follows accusations that he asked Guthrie for two ABC journalists, Emma Alberici and Andrew Probyn, to be dismissed.

Communications minister Mitch Fifield has asked his department to launch an official investigation into the intrusion of the government in the editorial operations of the ABC.

In light of these events, Prime Minster Scott Morrison said that the allegations against Milne were problematic: “They’re pretty serious allegations, I’ve got to say, and on the face of it they’re very concerning.” However, he said, all facts need to be considered before jumping to conclusions about Milne’s time as chairman of the ABC.

In an interview with ABC’s 7.30, Milne said: “Clearly there is a lot of pressure on the organisation and, as always, my interests have been to look after the interests of the corporation.

“It’s clearly not a good thing for everybody to be trying to do their job with this kind of firestorm going on.”

The ABC board was meeting at noon today to decide who will be the acting chairman.

The public broadcaster has been dominating headlines since Monday’s sacking of Guthrie.

Milne has spoken to ABC’s Leigh Sales about his resignation. The interview will air tonight on 7.30.

ALSO: ABC staff and commentators call for Justin Milne to resign.