Pressure is mounting on the current ABC Chairman Justin Milne to resign, amid claims he called for a senior reporter at the network to be sacked.

Furious staff are demanding Mr Milne resign after he reportedly emailed the recently dumped ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, demanding journalist Emma Alberici be fired to appease the federal government.

Mr Milne’s conduct has come under scrutiny just two days after Ms Guthrie was fired half-way through her five-year contract.

David Hill, former chairman and managing director of the ABC, tells Deborah Knight that Mr Milne has put himself in an “impossible situation” and must step aside.

“His job as chairman of the board of the ABC is fundamentally to protect the independence and the impartiality of the ABC.

“If it’s true that he sent that email, it’s suggesting he’s done quite the opposite.”

Mr Hill says the fact Mr Milne once worked with Malcolm Turnbull makes matters worse because it was the former prime minister who lodged the complaint against Alberici.

He says, when he was chairman, he would never have intervened in the management of the ABC and Mr Milne’s actions are unprecedented.

“Hiring and firing is an issue for the ABC management, not for its chairman.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview

Image credit: AAP /  Joel Carrett