It’s been confirmed that ABA chief, David Flint, will appear today at a Senate Estimates hearing.
His appearance was requested in writing by Labor, which also asked the embattled ABA chief to bring and table all the correspondence he has sent to Alan Jones on ABA letterhead.
Asked by radioinfo as to whether the Professor would bring the letters, an ABA spokesperson said: “We’ll have to wait and see.”
Professor Flint has been criticised for writing a letter of praise to Jones, just months before the ABA cash for comment inquiry in 1999.
Shadow Communications’ Minister, Lindsay Tanner, says Professor Flint has referred to a “stream of letters” between himself and Jones: “So far, only one letter has been made public.
“Professor Flint has refused to resign from the ABA, despite the overwhelming
public criticism of his behaviour, his impartiality being irreparably damaged and his own board censuring his behaviour.
“Professor Flint must give a full account to the Australian Parliament as to why he should remain as head of the ABA. He must attend estimates.”
The ABC’s Media Watch last week again tackled the issue of David Flint and the ‘gushing’ letters which he supposedly wrote to Alan Jones.
On the show, David Marr said:
“Even Media Watch hesitates to believe the head of the ABA could be stupid enough to write personal letters to a man under investigation by his own authority. So we checked.
We asked Flint: Did you send Alan Jones a copy of your book “The Twilight of the Elites”? [and] Did you correspond with Alan Jones during 2003? …
We hoped the answers would be no … but through the ABA’s spokesman, Donald Robertson, Flint replied:
During the active involvement of the Board in any investigation the only contact the chairman has with those involved is to further the purpose of the investigation.
Whatever that stream of words means, it doesn’t mean no. We pointed out to Flint that the statement does not …deny the existence of the correspondence. This leaves open the inference that you did in fact correspond with Alan Jones in 2003, during the ABA’s investigation of Telstra’s sponsorship …
Again no replies, but the ABA board meets on Thursday where only three respectable outcomes seem possible.
Either Flint makes a clear cut denial of the second stream of correspondence. Or he resigns. Or the rest of the board walks out.”
At today’s Estimates hearing in Canberra, the ABA chief is certain to face a grilling from Lindsay Tanner and other ALP members.