This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Scott Morrison will recommend that Dr Kirstin Ferguson be appointed deputy chair of the ABC, and therefore its acting chair, after the resignation of Justin Milne on Thursday amid concerns about editorial independence.

The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, is expected to confirm her appointment later on Friday.

“Should the governor general accept that recommendation she will also be in the position of being the the acting chair of the ABC until such time as a new chair appointment is made through the normal process,” the prime minister told journalists on Friday morning.

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Ferguson is a graduate of the Royal Australian Air Force who serves on several boards, and is an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology’s business school. She has been described as “an exemplary board member” by ABC sources.

Morrison said it was important for the ABC to “restore normal transmission as quickly as possible”.

“I think restore some stability there which is very necessary and it’s important that the ABC maintains its independence,” he said.

“It is also important that the ABC maintain a very unbiased approach to how it reports things. That it gets it right and gets the facts right and Australians, I think, rightly have high expectations of the ABC and it is up to the board to make sure that they deliver.”

Morrison defended the process of board appointments, which have come under renewed scrutiny this week, but Labor says appointments need to be made “at arm’s length”.

The ABC board without Milne met yesterday to make a recommendation about who should take over from Milne pending the appointment of a new chair. Ferguson was the frontrunner.

The combination of the acting managing director David Anderson and Ferguson, who has a similar friendly style, was an attractive proposition, board sources said.

Labor communication spokeswoman Michelle Rowland said the looming election made it crucial that the appointment of the next chair be non-partisan.

“We’ve see the Liberals attack and undermine the ABC’s independence – this appointment is too important and shouldn’t be used by them to run their anti-ABC agenda,” Rowland said.

“Labor is demanding that this appointment is done in a bipartisan way – independent of the political interference we’ve seen so far from the Liberals.

“Once again I’d remind them that the ABC doesn’t belong to the Liberals, it belongs to all Australians. They can’t treat this appointment as another political tool in their disposal.”