ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy bows to Coalition pressure over unpaid role at Old Parliament House

After informing Attorney-General George Brandis of his decision on Friday, Mr Cassidy wrote to the director of the Museum of Australian Democracy, Daryl Karp, resigning from the unpaid role.

''I am of the belief that remaining in the position would shroud the board and the institution in ongoing controversy; and that's the last thing that I want,'' he said in the letter to Ms Karp.

''The minister explained to me that he has a high regard for me personally, but nevertheless has (a) concerns about the process leading up to the appointment; and (b) a strong view that it is not appropriate to have anybody currently involved in the political process, whether they be politicians or journalists, sitting on boards such as these.

''He prefers people retired from any involvement in politics and I respect that view.''

Mr Cassidy told Ms Karp that he had accepted the chairmanship in ''good faith'' and that Senator Brandis accepted that he was ''unwittingly caught up in the process''.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Cassidy told ABC TV that Ms Karp had passed on a message from Seantor Brandis on Thursday, asking him to ''consider stepping aside'' from his new unpaid role as chair of a committee that advises the federal government on Old Parliament House in Canberra.

The Insiders host and media veteran, who was press secretary to former prime minister Bob Hawke between 1986 and 1991, said he had been told there was nothing personal about the request, but that the Coalition was ''concerned about the process'' of his appointment.

On Wednesday, The Australian newspaper reported that former arts minister Tony Burke appointed Mr Cassidy as chair of the Museum of Australian Democracy's advisory council on August 5 – the day after the election was called, but before the writs were issued and the government went into caretaker mode. The paper suggested that the job was a secret appointment done as a political favour.

In an interview on Wednesday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that the Labor government had ''rushed to appoint its friends to all sorts of positions in the dying days. Barrie Cassidy's a good bloke, I don't begrudge him the appointment. But it did all seem to be done with a certain unseemly haste.''

The Australian's report prompted ABC managing director Mark Scott to issue a rare statement, describing the article as an ''outrageous beat-up''.

''Mr Cassidy sought approval to take up the role with the Old Parliament House Advisory Council and it was granted. His experiences and insights into the political history of Australia over decades makes him a very strong fit for the position,'' Mr Scott said on Wednesday.

On Friday afternoon, Senator Brandis thanked Mr Cassidy for his resignation, calling it an ''unselfish act''.

''Mr Cassidy is a very distinguished Australian journalist with a long and deep knowledge of Australia's democratic institutions. His decision to step down as chair reflects his desire to ensure that the Museum of Australian Democracy was not ensnared in any controversy arising from the circumstances of his appointment by the former government, after the election had been called,'' Senator Brandis said in a statement.

''Those circumstances do not reflect on Mr Cassidy. He is, in a sense, a victim of the questionable processes of the former government.''

Responding to news that Mr Cassidy had resigned, Mr Burke tweeted: ''An unpaid role at Old Parliament House: And so the bullying of our cultural institutions begins...''

Mr Cassidy was approached to take on the role in June and said it had been ticked off by cabinet. The former chair, actor William McInnes, left the position in January.

The Insiders host had been president of the press gallery in the old building and said he still had many contacts with politicians and staff who had worked there.

Mr Cassidy's wife, Heather Ewart, tweeted that she and Mr Cassidy had devoted a lot of time and exhibits to set up the press gallery museum at Old Parliament House. "Still happy to help."

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Melbourne that Labor believed processes for appointments should be respected.

''We don't believe in political witchhunts,'' he said.

One of the first acts of the Coalition government was to revoke the appointment of former Victorian premier Steve Bracks as Australia's consul-general in New York.