Outgoing ABA chief, David Flint, has hit back at his Board colleagues, insinuating they also have conflicts of interest.
The ABA’s four part time Board members, who have private sector jobs, are in the spotlight, with Professor Flint saying there is probably a “lot of contact” between industry and his colleagues.
The embattled Professor Flint has told Toni O’Loughlin of The Australian Financial Review that he does not believe such contact is wrong, but feels he has been unfairly criticised for the kind of contact with industry which he believes is typical for ABA Board members.
“This is part and parcel of the [ABA Board] job,” he says in defence of his glowing letter to Alan Jones. “If they are saying contact, including a gushing letter – as it’s been called – is forbidden under the present system … there’s many other grey areas that could be looked at.”
“For example, if you were a [Board member] and consultant, acting for a radio company or involved with a radio company, does that mean the commercial radio inquiry is something that you shouldn’t sit on?”
Board members have declined to comment, but say they believe they know where to draw the line in their relationships with industry players.
But, some observers feel the Flint demise highlights the problems of a co-regulatory system in which the regulator depends on industry cooperation.
Shadow Communications’ Minister, Lindsay Tanner, has ruled out any plans to restructure the regulator, but concedes there appear to be problems: “There was no guarantee that David Flint’s conflict of interest was going to become public.”
One Board member says Professor Flint’s “problem has been … his intervention in political debate and I don’t think that should be allowed, particularly for a full time member”.
Meanwhile, John Laws, who has repeatedly criticised the ABA chief, has welcomed the Flint resignation, but says he takes no joy in the decision.
Laws has interrupted his European holiday to tell 2UE listeners: “I think it’s proper. I think it’s the way it should be.
“I’ve been publicly humiliated – to a degree, thanks to the good professor. But, it gives me no joy at all.”