Spigelman to head ABC

SOMEWHERE between the carbon tax, pokie reform and leadership tensions, the Coalition and Labour have found common ground.

Both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott welcomed the appointment of former Supreme Court of NSW Chief Justice James Spigelman as the new chairman of the ABC last week.

Prime Minister Gillard and Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy said Spigelman is a good fit for the job.

“With more than 40 years of service to the legal profession and a fierce passion for the arts, Mr Spigelman will be an exemplary leader of the ABC,” they said in a joint statement.

Shadow minister for communications and broadband and federal member for Wentworth Malcolm Turnbull, who has a large Jewish constituency and is friends with Spigelman, welcomed the ­appointment. “He’s very well placed to do the job,” Turnbull said.

“He has got a very fine intellect. He’s very objective. He’s impartial. But he’s got a very, very keen, rational intellect that will, I think, bring a lot of good judgement and leadership to the ABC board and provide a lot of support to Mark Scott and all the team that are doing the important work at the ABC.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) also praised the appointment. “The ABC is indeed fortunate to have as its new head a person of Jim’s knowledge, wisdom and longstanding commitment to the development of the arts and culture in Australia,” ECAJ president Dr Danny Lamm and executive director Peter Wertheim said in a joint ­statement.

Spigelman, who immigrated to Australia in 1949 with his parents after surviving the Holocaust, will take up the role on April 1.

The 66-year-old was the NSW Supreme Court Chief Justice from 1998 until May last year and has held the position of Art Gallery of NSW deputy chairman and is currently the National Library of Australia chairman. He became a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2000 for his services to law and the ­community.

Spigelman was in London and unavailable for comment.

JOSHUA LEVI