Adele Ferguson among three board directors resigning from Walkley Foundation over reform stoush

Three independent directors, including ABC journalist Adele Ferguson, have resigned from the board of Australia’s most prestigious journalism awards over “governance issues”.

Walkley Foundation chair Adele Ferguson, Walkley Advisory Board chair Sally Neighbour, and independent director Victoria Laurie said they made the decision to resign after the Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance (MEAA) rejected a proposal to reform the foundation’s governance.

Two members of the Walkley Public Fund Committee Pamela Wiliams and Alan Sunderland also resigned.

Three independent directors said in a statement that their proposal to reform the foundation “to strengthen governance and enshrine its independence” was rejected by the MEAA on December 4.

“In our view, it would not advance the objectives of strengthening the Walkley Foundation’s independence or improving its governance. Instead, it would have the effect of reinforcing MEAA’s control over the Board,” they wrote.

The Walkley Foundation was spun out of MEAA 10 years ago as a company limited by guarantee where the union retains control. Prior to that, it ran as part of the union for 70 years.

The Walkley Foundation board is separate from the Walkley Advisory Board, which is responsible for overseeing the judging for the awards.

“As independent directors, we have approached these discussions in a spirit of goodwill and compromise, recognising that it was intended as a first step towards strengthening the Walkley Foundation’s governance,” the former directors wrote in a statement.

“We have served in these roles diligently and to the best of our ability and have been proud and honoured to do so.

“However we feel we cannot properly discharge our fiduciary duties as directors in an organisation whose governance is so deeply flawed, particularly now that it has become clear we are powerless to change it for the better.”

In response, the MEAA Directors of the Walkley Foundation said they were “disappointed” to hear of the resignation of the three non-MEAA directors.

“Following lengthy negotiations, we had in-principle agreement on the majority of issues,” media president of MEAA Micahel Slezak said in a statement.

“On December 4 MEAA officer holder directors provided our final position, based on legal advice, and it appears there has a misunderstanding of that position.

“This includes our proposal to establish term limits and of maintaining the current director balance.

“If any matters required clarification, tonight’s Board meeting would have been an opportune time for further discussion.”

The trio of non-MEAA directors said they had engaged in discussion on issues of governance and independence for two years.

In February, several high-profile journalists, including Nick McKenzie, Kate McClymont, Hedley Thomas and Laurie Oakes, co-signed a letter supporting a push to have more independent directors on the board of the foundation. This was rejected by the MEAA.

In March, three MEAA representatives on the board of directors, Erin Delahunty, Kate Ferguson and Karen Percy, abruptly resigned from their MEAA and Walkleys positions.

“While disappointing, we wish Adele, Sally and Victoria well for the future, and MEAA will continue working to ensure a thriving Walkley Foundation that stands for excellence in journalism,” Mr Slezak said in the statement.