Peter Tonagh, a former CEO of News Corp Australia and Foxtel, and now a director of the ABC, also sits on the board of the national newswire AAP, a supplier to the ABC.
He is one of three new directors of the ABC. The other two are Mario D’Orazio and Fiona Balfour, who has experience in the aviation, telecommunications, financial services and education sectors.
Tonagh and D’Orazio both have extensive media experience. D’Orazio had a 30-year career with Channel 7 Perth, including eight years as managing director.
Tonagh worked for News Corporation companies for nearly fourteen years.
He also played a leading role in resurrecting AAP after major shareholders News and Nine decided last year to discontinue the national news agency.
Tonagh was the spokesman for a group of philanthropists and impact investors wanting to make a positive contribution to society.
Since then, AAP has received two lots of funding from Canberra.
Tonagh was also in 2018 a reviewer into the efficiency of Australia’s national broadcasters, the ABC and SBS.
Asked about Tonagh's connection to AAP, a spokesman for communications minister Paul Fletcher: "Yes, Peter Tonagh is on the AAP board. However, this is not an unusual situation, and any potential conflicts can be dealt with according to the usual processes."
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