A Royal Commission under the best leadership could shine an enormously powerful spotlight on the fact that NewsCorp grossly breaches our foreign interference laws on a daily basis.
According to Michael West Media, NewsCorp in Australia has paid no tax over the five years of available ATO data despite racking up almost $14 billion in total income. At 89, Rupert Murdoch seems intent on disproving the old adage about the only two certainties in life being death and taxes.
The foreign interference laws are aimed to prevent foreign persons – which certainly includes Murdoch’s family and his companies – from influencing a political or governmental process or influencing the exercise of an Australian democratic or political right or duty. His Australian newspapers seem to be maintained for the primary purpose of influencing Australian politics and Australian governments.
Our two most recent former Prime Ministers from the Liberal Party (Malcolm Turnbull) and the Labor Party (Kevin Rudd) last month gave testament on the ABC’s 7.30 to the major force that Newscorp is in Australian political life. The 7.30 item was in the context of Rudd’s petition, signed by Turnbull, calling for a Royal Commission into media diversity.
As Turnbull argued, news media are a critical part of our democracy. He accused Murdoch of effectively working for hand in glove with Tony Abbott as Prime Minister:
“Tony Abbott operated in almost in a partnership with News Corporation. They had their reporters, their editors had access to Cabinet decisions before they were taken, in fact, reported Cabinet decisions as having been taken when in fact it turned out, they hadn’t been. So there was extraordinary access. Morrison, I think has is determined not to suffer the same fate I did from the right of the Liberal Party and the Murdoch press, so Morrison is cleaving very closely to the Murdoch press and they are backing him up.”
Turnbull told 7.30 that Murdoch wanted to install Peter Dutton to replace Turnbull as Prime Minister. Turnbull was toppled, but Scott Morrison got the gig.
Rudd told 7.30: “In the 19 most recent federal and state elections since 2010, Murdoch has campaigned viciously for the Liberal and National Party and viciously against the Australian Labor Party. It has now become a totally one-eyed, one-side operation, and on top of that, acts as a protection racket for the Liberal National Party in power.”
Former News Corporation CEO and ABC executive, Kim Williams told 7.30 that he doesn’t believe another media inquiry would achieve anything.
I signed the Rudd petition. But I consider that by far the most useful outcome of a Royal Commission would be to shine a spotlight on the enormous extent to which Murdoch and NewsCorp are guilty of breaching Australia’s foreign interference laws by influencing political and governmental processes and our democracy.
Australia’s foreign interference laws are bad laws in many ways. One of the worst aspects is that they are blatantly political – prosecutions can only be brought on the say-so of Christian Porter, the Federal Attorney-General. He has shown himself to be unworthy of that high office and of carrying Ministerial responsibility for integrity in the Federal Government. So he will authorise prosecutions against respected members of the Chinese community. But do you think for a moment that he will let the Government’s most important electoral asset – the Murdoch media – be annoyed over a trivial thing like massive breaches of the foreign interference laws? Not a chance! These are the times in which we live. Times we have not experienced before.
A Royal Commission under the best leadership could shine an enormously powerful spotlight on the fact that NewsCorp grossly breaches our foreign interference laws on a daily basis. It and the American family which controls it are the greatest practitioners of foreign interference in Australia – by means of the enormous media power that they influence and the political power that gets them.
The Emperor is totally naked. More than new laws on media diversity, we need our existing laws on foreign interference to be used as they should be – to prevent one American family insidiously exerting enormous power over how Australia is run.
Lawyer, formerly senior federal public servant (CEO Constitutional Commission, CEO Law Reform Commission, Department of PM&C, Protective Security Review and first Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security; High Court Associate (1971) ; partner of major law firms. Awarded Premier’s Award (2018) and Law Institute of Victoria’s President’s Award for pro bono work (2005).
Comments
7 responses to “Not only governments exert foreign influence. What about Rupert Murdoch?”
Let’s assume, as a device, that the Murdoch papers in most state capitals and Qld regional, and one tabloidised broadsheet, are journals of record. Even given that no other democracy would approve such a media concentration. Only allowed because of a Sydney obsession – Paul Keating regarding the ‘prejudices’/ reporting of the SMH. But how to solve given the economics of print media?
Unfortunately to run an effective exploitation system one needs a mechanism with which to brain wash the people. The Judicial model of Australia is based upon an exploitive model refer https://www.lawyersorgraverobbers.com/web2/is-the-australian-judiciary-a-transformed-pirate-ship/ This will only change with a treaty with the original peoples of the land and respect for family and community in our laws. Then we as a nation can begin to create and drive out the culture of exploitation.
Yeah great….An investigation and broadcast of as many Murdoch sins as possible….
Then follow that with an investigation and exposition into the State Sins of The head of the fourth estate snake..
The ABC. Our Auntie is nasty son of a bitch.
Bless Auntie, but she could be a little more leftish to keep the cat amongst the pigeons.
It’s the intelligentsias’ Limited Hangout for mine.
If “Auntie” were to move a little closer to the centralist creature which she is supposed to be by shifting significantly to the left, then she might redeem herself a little in my eyes.
Thank you Ian.
Murdoch is predictably avoiding payment of tax.
Like you, I blame the government for permitting that. We pay more because Murdoch pays nothing. All multinationals operating in Australia exploit loopholes left there by the government for their benefit. Those who manufactured cars in Australia were allowed to think of a number that they paid to an offshore affiliate in the way of royalties for design rights, research and development. Those payments shipped profits to a tax haven.
So how do we fix all this corruption?
First, every company doing business in Australia is a ‘public interest company’ and is publicly accountable with published reports.
Second, no company doing business in Australia may pay international transfers for intellectual property from pre-tax income. If they want to do business in Australia, they have to pay tax in Australia.
Third, donations to political parties may not be made by corporations. Donations by individuals will all be published promptly and completely.
Fourth… I will leave that for a political forum.
This corrupt oligopoly culture has to end.