In 1970 Clyde Packer became joint managing director of Nine Network with his father, Frank. Clyde later recalled: "[I]t was a very equitable arrangement ... I had the responsibility and he had the authority". Late in the next year Clyde Packer launched A Current Affair on the Nine network, with Mike Willesee hosting. In 1972, Willesee organised for A Current Affair to have an on-air interview with then-union leader, Bob Hawke, during an industrial dispute. When Frank heard of the arrangement he vetoed the decision to allow Hawke on his network, undermining Clyde's authority. Willesee later declared: "You can't run a current affairs program, as you couldn't run a serious newspaper, and have people tell you you can't have the leader of the Trade Union movement". Packer resigned his posts at the Nine Network and ACP, and later reflected on the split: "I suspect my father was as glad to get rid of me as I was to get rid of him".
