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Justin Milne denies Michelle Guthrie allegation of “inappropriate touching”

Four Corners drops a bombshell in the sorry saga of ABC mismanagement.

Former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has questioned whether her firing was due in part to her claim that former managing director Justin Milne touched her inappropriately.

The bombshell allegation came at the end of Four Corners‘ probe into the public broadcaster’s management crisis, which led to her firing in September.

She claimed during a Board dinner at Billy Kwong’s restaurant in November 2017, Milne behaved inappropriately.

“It was inappropriate behaviour…. inappropriate touching was the best description of it,” she said.

“I felt icky,” she continued, “It was unprofessional and inappropriate.”

Milne told Four Corners he was aware of the allegations after being told by Board member Donny Walford and called a Board meeting to address it.

“She outlined a number of allegations, you’re going to have to forgive me for not going into it chapter and verse, but I never ever behaved in any inappropriate way with Michelle. I’ve had no reason to whatsoever. I didn’t.”

Asked if he rubbed her back at the dinner, Milne was unequivocal.

“Definitely not,” he replied.

“I think she meant that to have a sexual innuendo about it which I can’t for the life of me understand why she would say that. I’ve had no physical relationship with Michelle at all. I never ever acted inappropriately with Michelle at all, or indeed with any other woman in the workforce, or any other woman at all.”

Guthrie said from that point she avoided putting herself into situations where any behaviour might recur.

But Guthrie also failed to escalate the incident despite the Board asking her to make a formal complaint saying she wanted to focus on work.

“There was a lot to do.”

The Four Corners episode, which presenter Sarah Ferguson described as one of her most unusual assignments, interviewed but Guthrie and Milne on questions of editorial independence, management style, executive communications and staff morale.

Milne denied making claims about Malcolm Turnbull wanting Emma Alberici and Andrew Probyn sacked over their reportage, but acknowledged expressing concerns that government fury could jeopardise plans for a $500m “Jetstream” strategy to digitalise ABC and its archives.

On claims that he was interfering with editorial, Milne said, “I led the charge to be accurate and impartial.”

He said leaked emails that the government “fricken’ hate” Alberici were his opinion, not a directive to management to sack her.

To the claims by Guthrie that their working relationship had broken down to such a point that he berated her in phone calls, Milne again denied.

“I didn’t yell at her, I didn’t swear at her… we had an elevated disagreement. Michelle gives as good as she gets.”

He also expressed concerns over an internal survey from Senior ABC managers who scored Guthrie low on her management style, but noted that he scored her highest amongst the ABC Board.

The Four Corners episode outlined a litany of disagreements with Guthrie and Milne, continually clashing over more than a year of leadership, with next to no agreement on key points as raised by Sarah Ferguson. Their responses were full of corporate-speak.

Milne’s position was that Guthrie’s approach to change had failed to bring ABC staff with her and had to go.

Guthrie insisted, “The former Chair wanted someone in this role that they could control, that he could control, and I wasn’t that person. I wasn’t a pushover.”

Guthrie is now engaged in legal proceedings against the broadcaster.

A Board-appointed investigator will look into the sorry ABC saga while a senate inquiry will investigate political interference.