The Prime Minister announces former News Corp boss Kim Williams will be the new Chair of the ABC.
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00:00 The ABC is one of our most important institutions, a pillar of Australian life that plays a critical
00:09 role. It needs the right leadership and that leadership needs to come from a figure of
00:15 trust, talent and experience. Someone who is as multifaceted as the national broadcaster.
00:25 So it gives me great pleasure to introduce Mr Kim Williams, who we will recommend to
00:32 the Governor-General to be the next Chair of the ABC. Can I begin also by saying I've
00:42 spoken with Ida Buttrose, the current Chair, who finishes up her position soon. Ida Buttrose
00:52 is a champion. Those of us who grew up singing the great Chisell song about Ida, it said
01:03 a lot about her standing in the Australian community. Kim Williams is, I think, of all
01:13 the people who were forwarded potentially as candidates for this position. Kim is such
01:20 a perfect fit for the role, it's almost as if he were made for it. He is as much at home
01:27 running media companies as he is running arts organisations and indeed former AFL Commissioner,
01:34 so engaged in sport as well. There aren't too many Australians I can think of who have
01:40 both studied composition in Italy and been an AFL Commissioner. Kim is a true renaissance
01:49 man. The breadth of his experience is matched by its depth. His intellect, his energy and
01:57 his insatiable curiosity of all men, he has been able to devote himself to a great diversity
02:05 of passions. He of course has led news organisations, including News Corp. He has been involved
02:15 in sporting organisations but many, many arts organisations, including those engaged in
02:21 music and the theatre. Kim is someone who gets the ABC and he is someone who understands
02:30 instinctively what a national broadcaster can and should be.
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