THE QUOTES BEHIND THE ABC STORM
* "They (the government) hate her. We are tarred with her brush. I think it's simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC - not Emma (Alberici)." - ABC chairman Justin Milne to the broadcaster's former managing director Michelle Guthrie.
* "You just have to shoot him" - Milne to Guthrie on ABC political editor Andrew Probyn.
* "It's clearly not a good thing for everyone to be trying to do their job with this kind of firestorm going on so I wanted to provide a release valve." - Milne after resigning.
* "Nobody from the government has ever rung me and told me what to do in relation to the ABC. Nobody ever told me to hire anybody, fire anybody, or do anything else - they absolutely didn't." - Milne.
* "ABC board and chairman have made the right call. Time for the ABC to resume normal transmission, both independently and without bias. That is what Australia's taxpayers pay for and deserve." - Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
* "Milne's position was untenable after he allowed himself to be bullied by the government and lobby to get journalists sacked. More concerning for the nation is how the Liberal Party seeks to interfere with the ABC's independence, cut its funding and eventually look to sell it off. This is the real issue." - Labor leader Bill Shorten.
* "The bottom line is I've never called for anyone to be fired. My concern has been on the accuracy and impartiality of news reporting." - former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
* "It's a matter for every high office holder to continually assess whether they retain the capacity to effectively discharge the duties of their office." - Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.
* "To @abcnews staff asking me how to respond to these stories about the ABC, I've said this: hold your heads high, look everyone in the eye and get back to your desks, behind your microphones and in front of the cameras and do your jobs well. Your bosses are the Australian people." - ABC news director Gaven Morris.
* "We're in a situation where we need a clean-out of the ABC board, it's not just the chair. The rest of the board need to consider their positions and we really need a fresh start for the ABC." - Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
* "Mr Milne seems to have misunderstood that the role of the ABC is as a public broadcaster, not a mouthpiece for the government of the day." - journalists' union chief executive Paul Murphy.
