ABC chairman Justin Milne has resigned under pressure, just days after managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked.

"Clearly there is a lot of pressure on the organisation, and as always, my interests have been to look after the interests of the corporation," Mr. Milne said in an interview on the 7:30 program.  "It's clearly not a good thing for everybody to be trying to do their job with this kind of firestorm going on."

Milne also denied reports that members of the government had put pressure on him to control or get rid of journalists, and put out a separate statement to that effect.

But reporting about the maneuverings behind the scenes at the ABC suggests the opposite might be true.

Fairfax Media has reported that Mr. Milne had emailed Ms. Guthrie in May with instructions to fire senior journalist Emma Alberici.  Former PM Malcolm Turnbull denies asking Milne to send the email, but acknowledged that members of his coalition might have complained to Milne about what they perceived to be "factual errors".  But then, Newscorp reported that Milne also ordered Guthrie to get rid of political editor Andrew Probyn after yet another "conversation" with Turnbull.

This has opposition parties expressing concerns over the ABC's independence.  Labor MP Michelle Rowland released a statement reading, "The ABC is the public broadcaster, not a State broadcaster," and, "The Australian people deserve answers and the Liberal Government cannot be trusted to provide them."

Labor leader Bill Shorten accused the government of plotting to gut the ABC:  "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."

The Greens Sarah Hanson Young stood by the ABC's journalists:  "They have been doing everything they can to do their jobs properly, without the backing of their board, without the backing of their chairperson.  We need to clean out the board, put a broom through it and ensure that the staff and journalists are not just able to get on with their jobs, but they are protected and supported in doing that."