‘Get a Liberal’: alleged ‘directive’ to ABC presenter underpins Chvastek dispute

So where’s Nicole Chvastek? And why did the respected ABC radio presenter disappear from the airwaves three months ago?   

If you haven’t heard of Chvastek — she hosted the ABC’s Statewide Drive program covering regional Victoria, southern NSW and eastern South Australia. When first queried about the absence in April, an ABC spokesman said she was off air while the Ballarat studios were undergoing renovations but that she would return. But as Crikey reported in May, Chvastek had lodged bullying claims against her employer.

She has since resigned after reaching a confidential settlement. 

The dispute

Crikey understands that a central allegation in the dispute is that a Sydney-based ABC executive directed Chvastek’s program to “get a Liberal” for an interview after receiving a complaint from Victorian Nationals federal MP Darren Chester who was in government at the time. The directive was allegedly made in March 2022 in the dying days of the Morrison government and related to coverage of the catastrophic floods in northern NSW. The Morrison government was facing allegations that it had favoured Coalition seats in its response.    

Crikey understands the alleged directive set in chain a series of events which ultimately led to Chvastek’s departure from the ABC.  

Chvastek took the ABC to the Fair Work Commission earlier this year. The case was discontinued after a confidential settlement, and Chvastek resigned from the ABC. Chvastek’s lawyer, Mark Comito of Melbourne law firm Stal, told Crikey he was unable to comment further on the case. Nor could Chvastek.  

One close observer of the unfolding saga has been Denis Muller, a leading journalism academic who was a regular guest on Chvastek’s program. Muller, a former associate editor at The Age and now honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Centre for Advancing Journalism, told Crikey he had been in the ABC’s Ballarat studios twice a week for eight and a half years, “including the whole period these events unfolded”: “What I know is based on speaking to a range of ABC employees.”

According to Muller, the “get a Liberal” line went around the Ballarat studio like wildfire: “People were outraged that such a thing could happen. No-one I think at that point thought it would be the end of Nicole’s career. It was just thought that why on earth would an instruction like that come down from the headquarters of the ABC in Sydney when it’s just based on a telephone call from a politician?”

Crikey has asked the ABC to comment on the chain of events which appear to have ultimately led to Chvastek’s resignation. We specifically asked for comment on Chester’s concerns and whether or not he had made a written complaint. We also asked for comment on the allegation that a senior Sydney executive directed the Ballarat office to “get a Liberal”.

The ABC responded with a statement which did not address those questions: “We can confirm that Nicole Chvastek has resigned from the ABC and acknowledge the contribution she has made as the presenter of ABC Victoria’s Statewide Drive program over the past 10 years. We wish her all the best.”

What the presenter said

Outside the big cities, the ABC occupies a special and different place. Here the ABC presenter is a combination of friend, supporter, local hero, comforting voice and fierce interrogator when needed. Chvastek occupied the Drive chair for close to 10 years and built a loyal following (a change.org petition was launched by listeners after she left the air, garnering more than 1000 signatures). She had previously reported for ABC TV’s 7pm news and had anchored the ABC international’s Asia-Pacific news during the South Asian tsunami crisis.

On March 17 2022 Chvastek put to air a 13-minute package on the growing furore surrounding the Morrison government’s allocation of emergency flood relief in northern NSW.

The package opened with a recap of an interview with a NSW state Liberal MP, Catherine Cusack, who had expressed her disgust over how the Coalition had directed funding. Cusack said she “can’t defend and I don’t wish to defend” the government and that it was “incredibly stressful to be in the Liberal Party with a federal Liberal government” which she believed had treated flood victims “shamefully.”

Chvastek then moved to a live nine-minute interview with federal Labor MP Justine Elliot, whose flood-affected seat of Richmond had not received the same level of emergency funding from the Coalition government as the neighbouring National-held seat of Page. 

Near the end of the interview Chvastek asked Elliot about the funding in a way which would later be held against her: “Do you describe it as cold-blooded?”

Elliot replied: “Oh, absolutely it is cold-blooded. It is cold-blooded, vicious and mean. It’s very, very mean.”

Chvastek then wrapped up the interview by thanking Elliot for “joining us from Tweed Heads”. The presenter then repeated the closing words of the just-concluded interview: “Cold-blooded and mean.”

The public backlash over the floods issue had hit the Morrison government hard. In the hour before the interview went to air the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, under then-emergency management minister Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, had been forced to change the funding to head off more fury.

Chvastek had referenced the agency’s media release in her package. She also told listeners that the ABC had asked McKenzie for an interview but she had not responded.

Muller said he understands from his ABC contacts that Chester was soon on the phone to a senior ABC executive in Sydney.

“Chester complained about the interview,” Muller told Crikey. “Precisely what he complained about has never actually been clear. But the ABC manager clearly took the complaint on because a short time later an order was conveyed from [Sydney] through the manager of the Ballarat radio station to the production staff on Nicole’s program.

“The instruction that came down was get a Liberal — any Liberal — in response to what Justine Elliott had said, and the way in which Nicole conducted the interview. My understanding is that they tried to get Josh Frydenberg or tried to get various other Liberal Party people but no-one would come on and talk about it.”

Crikey has sought a response from Chester. We have asked him to detail the concerns he conveyed to the ABC about Chvastek’s coverage and to confirm whether or not he had made a complaint in writing. We have yet to receive an answer.

The process snowballs

According to Muller, a formal complaint process was set in train by the ABC, although as he understood it, the complaint was never put in writing, which is standard procedure for ABC complaints: “As I understand it, the complaint proceeded on the basis that there was a failure of impartiality, but that after some form of internal inquiry this was not upheld.”

Crikey has confirmed this with a separate source. 

The ABC was once effusive about Chvastek. Its website said: “From behind the microphone in ABC Ballarat’s studio Nicole Chvastek brings you breaking news and the stories of regional Victoria with a captivating voice, the occasional curly question and an infectious laugh. If you want a political interview or just a yarn to put a smile on your face, Nicole brings you three hours of compelling live radio every day from 3pm.” 

Crikey understands the relationship between Chvastek and the ABC never recovered once Sydney HQ became involved. Her claim was settled with no allegations of political interference being publicly aired.