Paging Dr Hugh
ABC boss Hugh Marks walked away from his first Senate Estimates appearance largely unscathed. But criticism arrived when his partner was appointed to the board of a betting firm.
Hugh Marks’ debut at Senate Estimates last week — where he was mistakenly introduced as “Dr” by Labor Senator Varun Ghosh — was always set to be a high-profile affair.
The hearing effectively capped off the ABC managing director’s list of firsts in the role. Marks fielded questions about the $2.5 million in costs associated with the Antoinette Lattouf matter, revealed plans to produce more local content, and walked out of the committee room mostly in one piece.
All told, ABC chairman Kim Williams liked what he saw. “I thought for a first innings in that kind of environment, I thought he acquitted himself professionally,” Williams told Capital Brief.
But it was in the days that followed, outside the four walls of the committee room, that Marks got his first real taste of the intense personal scrutiny directed at those in senior roles at the national broadcaster.
