Fellow ABC Sydney veteran Richard Glover, who resigned last year, called the decisions to sack both Marnie and Macdonald “baffling”, while staff called it a “public relations disaster”.
Last year, Marnie said the decision came as a “shock, and I am still processing what it means for me”. Macdonald is now doing regular radio slots for Nine-owned talkback network 2GB.
“Over the years, I’ve been to many farewells, some on the Dot Strong Terrace, some in Studio 22 and some just held in the kitchen or office space of the person leaving … I always wondered what mine would be like,” Marnie’s note said on Friday.
ABC chair Kim Williams (second right) with departed ABC veterans (from left) Sarah Macdonald, Richard Glover and Simon Marnie.Credit: Monique Westermann
“I was certain my immediate boss or (if lucky) the head of my division would stand up and recount a career spanning 40 years from an unpaid ‘intern’ at JJJ to Presenter Weekends on ABC Radio Sydney and ABC NSW.
“I doubt they’d remember my 36-hour stint with the late journo Trent O’Keefe at Triple J covering the fall of the Berlin Wall, or that notorious JJJ breakfast shift that earned me two weeks’ leave on full pay.”
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The ABC did issue a press release in November, farewelling Marnie, accompanied by a short statement from Latimer. Marnie invited former colleagues, friends and past guests to attend his final show, an outside broadcast at Government House in December.
Marnie was approached for further comment. The ABC was also approached for comment.
ABC Radio Sydney has undergone significant change over the past 12 months, as have many of the broadcaster’s different radio outfits.
It appointed a new station manager, Katrina Palmer, to lead the network after the exit of Steve Ahern, who oversaw Antoinette Lattouf’s dismissal, three days into a casual five-day contract in December 2023, which erupted into an organisation-wide scandal.
Palmer, a former producer for several high-profile ABC Radio Melbourne shows, including Jon Faine, began this year.
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