ABC board gets elusive powerbroker

The latest addition to the ABC board, Steven Skala, was last year named by Melbourne′s The Age newspaper as one of Melbourne′s "new breed of powerbrokers", a member of what the paper called the city′s "new establishment" and as "a rising leader in Melbourne′s influential Jewish community".

Should any flattery have been intended, it didn′t do The Age too much good. When it caught up with Skala, he told the paper: "I′ve always lived below the radar and that′s where I′d prefer to stay."

Skala, 50, certainly prefers life below the radar. Media has made several attempts to make a courtesy contact with the new board member since his October6 appointment. Skala has been reported as "out of the office buying his lunch", as "interstate" and unavailable because of "meeting after meeting after meeting".

On Tuesday, Media received a message from the ABC′s board secretariat, inquiring why The Australian was trying to contact its latest member. If Skala continues in like vein he maycome to rival Britain′s MI6, once publicly described as "so secretit doesn′t officially exist". Reassuringly, Skala does exist. He′s the vice-chairman of Deutsche Bank (Australia and New Zealand), the chairman of Film Australia and a director of both the Australian Ballet and the Centre for Independent Studies. He′s a former director of the Ten network and, for 19 years, was head of the corporate and commercial division of the legal firm, Arnold Bloch Leibler.

He is a former chairman of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, a position he vacated a year ago in favour of a reported close friend, Naomi Milgrom, the owner of the fashion group, Sussan.

Not least, Skala is a member of Cricket Australia′s grievance tribunal and was recently involved in a high-profile case involving Matthew Elliott′s appeal against Victoria′s reluctance to allow him to move to South Australia. Elliott, who has scored 32 centuries for Victoria and who is also prominent with Glamorgan in England′s county championship competition, was granted his release.

Media′s attempts to reach Skala were possibly unnecessary in that the announcement of his appointment by the Minister for Communications, Helen Coonan, noted he "has a strong interest in public broadcasting".

The corporation′s numerical board strength still remains two below its traditional nine, with Coonan yet to name replacements for recent departees, Ross McLean and Leith Boully.

But the position of deputy chair, vacant for some weeks following the expiry of Judith Sloan′s term, has been filled by Queensland lawyer John Gallagher. Gallagher was appointed by Coonan′s predecessor, Richard Alston, in 1999 and reappointed, by Coonan, in February for a further three years.

Meantime, Coonan has announced the private consultant KPMG is to perform the ABC′s Funding Adequacy and Efficiency Review, a review pledged by the Government at the last federal election and requested by the broadcaster′s then board. The review occurs against a backdrop of budget-driven cuts to Radio National and local drama levels on ABC television at an alleged all-time low