Stephen Conroy says sorry for catching colleagues by surprise with resignation

Stephen Conroy has named factional powerbrokers Don Farrell, Richard Marles and David Feeney as those who “have got Bill Shorten’s back” after his resignation as the senator apologised for catching colleagues by surprise.

In an interview on Sky News on Tuesday Conroy defended his policy legacy in media reform.

Conroy resigned from the Senate on Thursday evening, tabling a speech explaining that he did so for family reasons. When the news broke on Friday it caught the acting Labor leader, Tanya Plibersek, by surprise mid-press conference.

On Sky on Tuesday, Conroy said he had “apologised profusely” to Plibersek. “I have to say I am embarrassed about poor Tanya –she’s a very dear friend of mine and I did embarrass her,” he said.

Conroy explained that the other senior figure in the Labor left, Anthony Albanese, knew of his resignation because he had told him during a conversation about Labor’s national executive and the appointment of its next secretary.

He said he had informed Shorten by text message because the Labor leader was in Canada at the time.

Conroy said he hadn’t known Plibersek was holding a press conference but hetook “full responsibility”.

Asked whether his resignation could weaken Shorten’s leadership, he said: “There are a whole range of people that have got Bill Shorten’s back.

“Don Farrell is a passionate Bill Shorten supporter and has been for a long period of time … And Richard Marles will be working within the Victorian group along with David Feeney and a whole group of other people.”

Farrell is in the box seat to replace Conroy as deputy Senate leader despite his history of tension with Labor’s current Senate leader, Penny Wong.

Reflecting on his policy legacy, Conroy conceded he had “made some mistakes along the way” but trusted his impact was on the whole positive.

He defended failed media law reforms, rejecting the characterisation that Labor had attacked free speech when it proposed the creation of public interest media advocate to oversee media mergers and the Press Council.

“I still believe that Press Council is a fairly irrelevant organisation,” he said. “It has improved but due to the pressure that there could be some regulatory reform.”

Asked whether he was or had ever been a global warming sceptic, Conroy replied: “I’ve always said publicly that I think humans are affecting the temperature and there’s a big scientific debate about how much – that’s always been part of the debate.”

Reflecting on advice he would give a young person considering entering politics, he said: “I’m not sure I could put my hand on my heart and say go for it – because it’s a pretty tough, fierce media environment.

“That’s a little sad. Being in politics is a noble profession. You can make a difference – I’d like to think I made a difference.

“It is getting harder and harder, with the rise of right and leftwing extremists and the demands of the media cycle – even when there’s not much happening you’ve got to make it sound like something’s happening.”