Over the past month, Australia has lost a prime minister and the ABC has lost its chair and managing director. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to know that one media organisation — led by one media mogul — was instrumental in fuelling and encouraging that turmoil. Today we begin a series looking at the shadow of fear that hovers permanently over Australian democracy.
Well call me Ishmael! In August, for the first time this year, we had a sighting of the great white whale of Australian politics: Rupert Murdoch breaking the surface and blowing his spout with, “Malcolm has got to go!”
In Australian political mythology, Murdoch is as much kraken as leviathan, with tentacles that reach through media and politics, so perhaps his presence would give us clarity on the key #Libspill question of what just happened.
But just when we thought we had it worked out, the sacking of former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie (a favourite News Corp punching bag) just muddied things up again, particularly once it became clear that her departure was in part due to her apparent lack of enthusiasm for the right’s culture war battles.
Undisputed in the media’s reporting has been that Murdoch didn’t like Turnbull; it follows, as night from day, that PMs disliked by Murdoch tend not to be PMs for very long. Sure, lots of the Liberal party room didn’t like him either. But we know why Abbott dislikes Turnbull. Their antagonism — political, cultural, personal — has been played out publicly over 25 years.
Murdoch and Turnbull? No idea.
What had the Turnbull government not done for News Corp? They’ve hamstrung NBN with fibre to the node, helping Foxtel; gone after the ABC, often in tandem with News Corp media; changed media ownership rules to allow a potential Network Ten takeover; tossed a stray $30 million to Foxtel to broadcast women’s sport; and stood aside while the ACCC waived through News Corp’s regional and pay TV consolidation.
The big thing the Coalition hasn’t given the company is some freedom around anti-siphoning laws to enable Foxtel to become the premier sports streaming service. The company is attempting to bypass these laws through commercial co-bids where a free-to-air partner buys and waives their rights.
Murdoch’s dislike is said to go back to the 1980s when Turnbull was more a Packer person than a Murdoch man. Certainly, Murdoch wouldn’t be the only person who’s found Turnbull’s self-confidence insufficiently deferential to their own importance. Perhaps Turnbull had enough money to believe he could treat Murdoch as an equal.
The media whales usually move quietly below the surface, communicating with echolocation that falls outside the hearing range of all but their own editors. As Anne Davies reported in The Guardian last month, the best of Murdoch’s editors and journalists have highly tuned hearing.
Two weeks before #Libspill, Murdoch dropped into Australia for the first time this year. Shortly after, he reportedly met with his editors at Lachlan Murdoch’s home (coincidentally, in Turnbull’s Wentworth electorate). The Dutton for PM campaign seemed to ramp up after that.
Sometime in that week, Murdoch and Kerry Stokes spoke by phone, leaving Stokes sufficiently agitated to talk to Turnbull who, in turn, attempted, to contact Murdoch.
By the following Sunday, Turnbull was, in the Murdoch papers, “dead man walking”. Fairfax Media’s Mark Kenny noted on Insiders, “it’s pretty clear that News Corp has made its decision on this Prime Minister”.
Meanwhile, Murdoch was off to Melbourne for an IPA-sponsored Chatham House Rules in-conversation with John Howard and Janet Albrechtsen. According to Rita Pahani, the conversation was “absolutely brilliant” and “superb”, covering “Trump, Brexit, Australia, China, identity politics, free speech, political correctness and much more”.
Next morning, Turnbull responded to the News Corp destabilisation and the Stokes’ briefing by bringing on the initial spill. Sometime the next day, he finally spoke with Murdoch who, in apparent gaslighting mode, deflected criticisms to Lachlan and “Boris” — The Australian editor Paul Whittaker. Two days later, Turnbull was gone.
Turnbull has made no secret of his conviction of the role of News Corp. More surprisingly, has been the company kick-back. Normally, they brag (“It’s The Sun wot won it”) or keep schtum, banking the power that comes from perception. This time, they’ve loudly rejected that #Libspill was a media conspiracy without refuting the long-term destabilisation. They pounded the ABC (and Guthrie) for its reporting of the Murdoch sighting.
This pounding carried on through the Guthrie-Milne saga. In The Australian, the ABC News report on the claims of Murdoch involvement ranked in the duos greatest failing.
Maybe they would say that, wouldn’t they? But it suggests that even the whales have recognised that long-term public displays of media power threaten to undermine their public legitimacy.
NEXT: News Corp’s rich history of political meddling
Unlike other captains of industry in their dotage, Murdoch seems disinclined to take up gardening instead of his habitual king-making.
“Tentacles”? Try “metastases”?
…… Imagine the outcry if GetUp! did this?
“The media whales usually move quietly below the surface, communicating with echolocation that falls outside the hearing range of all but their own editors…..the best of Murdoch’s editors and journalists have highly attuned hearing”.
Bravo, an excellent summary of how the whales operate. You have to listen wery wery carefully, else you’ll be FIRED.
No b.b; sorry. The auditory tests are undertaken at interview. If one passes one KNOWS just how to navigate WITHOUT being told. The only statement that Murdoch has uttered and which I believe is his claim that he has never given an instruction (either way) to any editor.
Beg to differ kh. Have you ever met one of his editors? I have. I’ve met the man himself too when he was much, much younger. Sorry to burst your bubble, but he absolutely has given extremely direct instructions to his editors.
Furthermore, I met his mother and some of his close relatives. His mother commented to me that she often disagreed with him, but he took no notice of her opinions.
yes a few over the passage of time – from the earlish 80s. I also met Ranald Macdonald (of The Age – and last relative of the Syme family to have anything to do with the paper) and we had a speculative chat on the matter.
As an aside I was kinda offered a job or more accurately a six month trial. I was tempted but I didn’t want to move to Melbourne and the paper was too lenient on Fraser (although that had changed by Jan. 1983). Still not sure if I blundered there or not. Probably did. I would have had Gerald Henderson as a workmate.
ok b.b. I am happy to take your word for it – but you ought to have wagered me; I would have lost some money.
Overall, a most reflective article. Well done! Having read the article it occurs to me that there is one omission that exists and ought to be added to the theme. To begin a few steps back : there was no obvious or “real” reason to flick Turnbull. Turnbull was not behaving like Abbott (2014-15) by making “captain’s calls” or chucking knighthoods all over the place.
Abbott went, with some relief for largely the same reason that Rudd was flicked; they, at least to those who worked closely with them, were out of control. Now to the point.
Once upon a time the the political factions of the Labor and Liberal parties accepted the “legitimacy” – if that is the world – of one another within their parties. It was “part of the package” or of life as it were.
Now, there is no such acceptance. Turnbull could have created Utopia and it would not have been voted for (in Cabinet) or accepted by the Libs who opposed Turnbull. There is the media angle (Rudd was besotted with it – almost ran his government by it) but I think it is much more apparent than real if one
has the hide (e.g. Howard -for all his faults) to tough it out. Ditto for Keeting.
As an aside it might be worth emphasising that for almost 30 years the Libs have won elections only with what were once known as “Drys” and not with “Wets”. To this extent Turnbull’s election was an anomaly and it did not last. If the electorate is going to vote Liberal it will vote “Dry”. For those that are wondering : neo-lib is breathing and does have a pulse. Ask Scott.
Malcolm was 12 stone of dried out man jerky by the time the Liberal(?) dries had finished with him. I hope Labor have plans to finally bring the gargoyle down or at least wound him severely. Paul Keating’s microscope was a good analogy for Turnbull’s policy courage.