He has no TV experience and is little known in Australia. The ABC just handed him its biggest news job

In this week’s On Background, the long road home for the new boss of ABC News, Tony Abbott’s duelling media and political careers, Sky News’ Great British expansion and 10News+ reaches new heights.

From Nairobi to Sydney

There are more than 1000 journalists at the ABC, and several thousand more across Australia’s media industry. Almost all of them were Googling Simon Robinson’s name on Thursday, having never heard of the new ABC News boss.

Robinson, the executive editor of global wire-agency Reuters, is an Aussie, but he’s been living and working outside the country during the 21st century. He has been stationed as far afield as Nairobi, Johannesburg, New Delhi and Baghdad before settling in London. It is, indeed, a triumphant homecoming.

The ABC’s sudden overhaul of its news leadership was months in the making. With the story breaking on Wednesday in the Herald and The Age that Justin Stevens was resigning, it didn’t take long for the name of his successor to emerge.

On Background sources say ABC leadership firmed its decision to appoint its next news boss weeks before Justin Stevens knew about the process to replace him.

A global search led by recruitment firm Hourigan delivered a shortlist to ABC boss Hugh Marks from news organisations across the world, including the BBC, sources say.

With Robinson firmed up as the successor, Stevens took leave last week following a meeting with Marks and head of people and culture Deena Amorelli, before officially walking away from the job on Wednesday.

There had been some tension between Stevens, Marks and chair Kim Williams over the future direction of ABC News, including the strategy to overhaul parts of the newsroom and the speed at which this was done. Some of this included how to best use its fixed funding, sources with knowledge of the discussions not authorised to speak publicly said.

Stevens and Marks declined to comment.

“Williams was for a period of time the chair of the Reuters Institute, so obviously would know Mr Robinson through his role with Reuters,” Marks said in Canberra on Thursday when pressed on the appointment.

Last week, during a lengthy interview with Tasmanian podcast Poll Position, Williams even urged the hosts to take out a subscription with Reuters.

“Reuters had 190 news bureaus around the world and I got to visit about 60 of them […] I met lots of wonderful journos across the length and breadth of the world, and also lived through a very interesting digital migration process for Reuters,” Williams said.

Robinson’s CV does not show a senior editorial leadership position in the Australian media industry, but he does have extensive leadership experience in overseas media companies.

Nor does he have significant experience in television. Robinson’s experience in Australia was as a reporter for Who Weekly in the 1990s, according to his CV on LinkedIn. He spent 15 years travelling the world as a correspondent for Time magazine before joining Reuters in London in 2010.

Marks may have even appointed him to the wrong department, given that Robinson’s CV mentions that he wrote and produced an award-winning satirical movie about aid workers and journalists in Africa. (Note to readers: we’re looking for a copy of that one).

Regardless, the move is the biggest swing to date for the ABC under the Marks and Williams era. But what does it say about how they perceive our own media industry, or the talent in ABC’s internal ranks?

Points for thinking outside the box, however.

Politically reborn, but still cashed up

Less than a week ago, Tony Abbott, the prime minister most affectionately remembered for eating raw onions and wearing budgie smugglers, made his grand return to front-line politics as federal president of the ailing Liberal Party.

It is a cushy gig, but unfortunately for Tony, it is also unpaid. So it is handy that while effectively chairing the Libs, he will be retaining his $500,000 annual gig on the board of Lachlan Murdoch’s Fox Corporation, On Background has confirmed.

Add that to the $300,000 a year pension he is entitled to as a former PM, as well as the $200,000+ he claims in annual expenses and it’s quite the life he is leading in semi-retirement.

Abbott has been on Murdoch’s payroll for the past few years now, and recently, he had his best-selling book on the history of Australia published by their very own Harper Collins, which admittedly sits in the News Corp half of the family purse. He also produced and fronted a three-part documentary to accompany the book for Sky News last year.

In the United Kingdom, poll-topping Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has similarly (and arguably to a greater extent) blurred the lines of politics and media, as he hosts his own show on GB News, which is run by Sky News’ former CEO Angelos Frangopoulos. Nige (never one to turn down a cheque)collects a wage from Sky here as well, getting paid £31,145.62 ($59,000) for his appearances on the network between February and November according to the UK Parliament disclosures.

How long until our Tony is presenting his own nightly briefing?

But the most crucial task lies ahead for Tony: Reuniting his two great loves, News Corp and the Liberal Party. After all, Sky News has run off with One Nation in recent times.

Abbott was back on Sky on Monday, appearing on his former chief of staff Peta Credlin’s show. The next day, he was back again! But this time, not on Sky, but on Credlin’s Instagram from inside her kitchen.

As previously reported in this column, the presence of One Nation figures has increased on Sky, with some of its After Dark hosts openly supporting the party. Some reckon it’s a way to drag the Liberal Party further to the right.

Despite funding former Kerry Stokes consigliere Bruce McWilliam’s stake in Southern Cross/Seven, one of Sky’s largest advertisers and favourite figures Gina Rinehart, who has jetted Pauline Hanson around the country before buying her a new plane, continues to support the News Corp network.

Sky flew over to Western Australia for a big shoot with Rinehart recently, On Background hears. Can’t wait to watch!

In January, Rinehart “brokered” a lunch for a number of Liberal Party donors at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in return for One Nation donations, The Australian reported. Two months later, Sky host Rita Panahi flew to Florida for a birthday party thrown by Rinehart, alongside a trip to Mar-a-Lago. Go figure.

God save the King

Gina’s ad dollars must be helping because Sky – soon to be known as News24 – is officially “opening a News24 bureau in London” in November, its head of news Elise Holman told staff this week.

Staś Butler, Sky’s polyglot Oxford alumni and Asia correspondent is moving to become senior European correspondent, based at News Corp’s London HQ.

They’re also on the lookout for a new UK correspondent, according to the note. Maybe they could convince Farage to make the jump full-time?

10News+ reaches new heights

It has been a rough old year for Network 10’s fledgling news program 10News+, which was sliced in half after just a few months of poor ratings.

One thing On Background’s few eagle-eyed spotters noticed, however, was a curious choice from the clothing department when political editor Ashleigh Raper and national affairs editor Hugh Riminton came out to present that show.

It was Raper’s choice of footwear. Or more accurately, lack of. With just a split-second wide shot, it showed the barefooted Raper only marginally shorter than the platformed news veteran in his polished boots.

An odd choice, sure. But a necessary leveller? On Background reached out to both Raper and Riminton for an explanation but didn’t get one.

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