Veteran ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy has resigned as chairman of the Old Parliament House advisory council, saying he did not want his appointment shrouded in ongoing controversy. Mr Cassidy stood down from the unpaid role on Friday following a request from Arts Minister George Brandis. The Insiders host was appointed chairman of the council by Labor arts minister Tony Burke on August 5, just hours before the Rudd government went into caretaker mode ahead of the September 7 election. Remaining in the position would shroud the board and the institution in ongoing controversy, Cassidy said. And that's the last thing that I want. Senator Brandis paid tribute to Cassidy's character after accepting his resignation. "Mr Cassidy's decision to stand aside was an unselfish act, for which I thank him," he said, adding the circumstances should not reflect on Mr Cassidy. Senator Brandis said Mr Cassidy accepted the importance of the Museum of Australian Democracy maintaining its apolitical and non-partisan character. The council's chair should not be occupied by someone professionally engaged in politics, whether as a practising politician or as a working political journalist, he said. Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said the minister should have better things to do than "bully" someone out of volunteering for a respected national institution. As a former president of the press gallery at Old Parliament House, Mr Cassidy was eminently qualified to serve on its advisory council, he said. Prime Minister Tony Abbott had earlier criticised the appointment, saying that while Mr Cassidy was a good bloke, his appointment was done with an "unseemly haste."