I didn't ask Barrie Cassidy to quit museum job, says George Brandis Arts Minister George Brandis says he asked ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy, pictured, to "consider his position" as chairman of advisory council to Museum of Australian Democracy. Picture: Michael Potter Source: The Australian ABC political journalist Barrie Cassidy offered to resign as chairman of the Old Parliament House Advisory Council after Arts Minister George Brandis raised serious concerns over his appointment directly in a 10 to 15 minute conversation. Mr Cassidy, the host of the ABC's Insiders program, was installed as chairman on Monday August 5 - the day after the federal election was called - by the former minister Tony Burke. Senator Brandis told a Senate estimates hearing today he requested an oral briefing on the appointment to inform himself of the "steps that had been taken in that appointment." Following the briefing, he suggested that Museum of Australian Democracy director, Daryl Karp, have a conversation with Mr Cassidy to raise with him the "unusual features of his appointment" but vigorously denied there was any directive for him to stand down. Old Parliament House hosts the Museum of Australian Democracy. Mr Cassidy, as you know, did stand down. He stood down after a conversation with me," Senator Brandis told the hearing. I expressed to Mr Cassidy concerns about the process and I also expressed concerns about the fact that, as a working political journalist, he would be in a position, quite appropriately, to be a commentator and potentially a critic of the government. He wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't a commentator and potentially a critic of the government and I thought that that raised certain difficulties in being the chair of an agency which was apolitical. Mr Cassidy is also a former press secretary to Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, while the council's deputy chairwoman is former Hawke government minister Susan Ryan. Other members include former Labor MP Graham Edwards and former Democrat senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, with Paul Calvert - a former Liberal Senator - the only representative from the conservative side of politics. Senator Brandis said today he thought it best that appointments to the board of the Museum of Australian Democracy should include those from both sides of politics, but not those still actively engaged as politicians or as working journalists. "He (Mr Cassidy) was in a sense the victim of the bad and irregular process of the previous government," he said. If he'd been a retired journalist we wouldn't have been having that conversation. Senator Brandis conceded that he asked Mr Cassidy to consider his position and accepted his resignation when offered. "I did say to him when he offered to resign, that I thought, in all the circumstances, that he'd done the right thing," Senator Brandis said. As reported in The Australian last month, council members were not consulted or advised of Mr Cassidy's appointment. The position had been vacant since January when the actor William McInnes completed his term. The council meets three times a year in Canberra and, on top of expenses, members normally receive a fee ($429 a day for members and $578 for the chairman). Mr Cassidy had made clear he would not accept payment because he was already employed by the commonwealth via the ABC. Senator Brandis said his view did not extend to other cultural organisations including the ABC. Labor senator Lisa Singh wanted to know whether the minister would object to the reappointment of conservative commentator Janet Albrechtsen to the board of the national broadcaster. Albrechtsen, a columnist for The Australian, was appointed by the Howard government in 2005 for a five-year term. Senator Brandis said appointments to the ABC board were not his responnsibility.