• The Coalition government handpicked Warren Mundine to join SBS board in October this year, passing over candidates recommended by an independent panel.
• Business Insider Australia has obtained a list of shortlisted candidates through a freedom of information request.
• Journalist Stan Grant, producer Anita Jacoby and charity CEO Shirley Chowdhary were all recommended for the board position.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Late on a Friday afternoon in October, the Federal Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher announced that the government had appointed Warren Mundine to the SBS board.

“Mr Mundine is a distinguished Australian. He will be a valuable addition to the SBS Board, bringing over 40 years of experience in roles across government, business and the community sector,” Fletcher said in a statement.

Filling a vacancy created with the retirement of Dr Bulent Hass Dellal, Mundine — who is a well-known Indigenous advocate and broadcaster — was appointed to a five year non-executive part-time position on the multicultural public broadcaster.

A few days later, the Guardian Australia reported that Mundine was not recommended by an independent nomination panel. Rather, he had been handpicked by the government over the panel’s suggestions.

“Warren Mundine was not included in the list of recommended nominees by the nomination panel; however, it is open to the minister under section 43B of the SBS Act to recommend a nominee other than as recommended by the panel,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.

Business Insider has obtained a document containing the shortlisted candidates for the SBS Board position via a freedom of information request.

The recommendations were:

Chowdhary told Business Insider that it was a “privilege” to be considered for the role but did not comment on Mundine’s appointment. Jacoby declined to comment. Grant did not respond to a media request via email.

Mundine’s appointment in favour of recommended candidates has drawn criticism because of his close political ties to the government.

The one-time National President of the Australian Labor Party had an unsuccessful tilt for the NSW seat of Gilmore for the Liberal Party at the 2019 federal election.

He was appointed by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott to lead the government’s Indigenous Advisory Council and received government funding for his Sky News show before an application was submitted.

After his appointment to the SBS board, Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called on the government to explain why they had passed over the independent recommendations in favour of Mundine.

“The independent panel is there for a reason. Our public broadcasters and agencies shouldn’t be used to give jobs to the PM’s mates,” she told the Guardian.

Two current SBS employees — who wished to remain anonymous — told Business Insider Australia there was some internal concerns about the Mundine’s appointment, fearing the politicisation of the independent public broadcaster.

But Media Diversity Australia director and senior Network 10 journalist Antoinette Lattouf said that boards reflect the diversity of the Australian community.

“I think it’s essential that boards have a diversity of views as well as backgrounds,” Lattouf told Business Insider.

“When we conducted our research Who Gets To Tell Australian Stories, SBS was the only free-to-air broadcaster with an indigenous board member,” she said.

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