The Australian Forever

There is a decision that can be made which would be of greater significance for Australia’s continuing success than the outcome of any federal election for years to come. It is a decision for one man—Rupert Murdoch. We need a plan in place that ensures publication of the Australian newspaper for centuries to come.

In this age of tweets and posts we need to retain a quality coast-to-coast newspaper of record, which is an under-appreciated yet vital piece of national infrastructure. Of course, the elite thinkers turn to Quadrant for their monthly intake of intellectual substance, but the thoughtful among the masses need a daily window into the big issues facing the nation and the world. The Australian has served that purpose well since 1964.

The content of broadsheet newspapers around the world today is probably of a higher standard than ever, but financially they are struggling. Let’s hope it is temporary but it may be permanent. If the Australian were ever to fold it would not be replaced and the nation would be the poorer. We would have only state-centred newspapers. A national newspaper fosters a national perspective—the most important perspective.

In the 1990s when Rupert Murdoch had a minor cancer scare he was asked at his next press conference whether the episode had made him think of retirement and he responded, “No—my recovery has only strengthened my belief in my invincibility.” Let’s hope he’s right. But if he is not and if the Australian were to face an extended period of commercial questionability in a post-Rupert era we cannot risk some accounting boffin recommending its closure.

The model of eternal life for the Australian is the Guardian, which commenced publication in 1821. From 1872 to 1929 the editor was Charles P. Scott, who during his long tenure ended up becoming the proprietor. Scott ensured the continuing future publication of the Guardian by bequeathing ownership to the Scott Trust, which had sufficient funds to keep the presses rolling regardless of the bottom line. If Scott was looking down now from above he would surely be pleased that he left a powerful journalistic legacy that continues to this day. I’m hoping Rupert Murdoch can share Scott’s vision. The trust that owns the Guardian is strictly prohibited from influencing editorial decisions, but if we truly want to preserve Rupert’s spirit his trustees will need to be empowered to maintain a degree of influence.

Between News Limited and News Corporation Rupert has a majority interest in several hundred media outlets. Almost all were acquired through takeover—but not the Australian, which has always been Rupert’s baby. He founded it and gave it its character.

The Australian has been a consistent force for good in Australia. One of many examples is that soon after it was launched Rupert hired a small plane, a pilot and a photographer and they flew around the outback to take photos of remote Aboriginal communities. He then launched a campaign through the Australian that awoke middle Australia to the desperate plight of too many indigenous people. The Australian’s commitment to reporting on Aboriginal disadvantage has been a consistent theme to this day.

The Australian has backed Liberal and Labor over the years and in retrospect Rupert has usually made the right call. He backed Whitlam in 1969 and 1972 when the Liberals had run out of puff and it probably was time for a change—and he backed Fraser in 1975 when Whitlamism had gone off the rails. He backed Hawke, Keating (except in 1996), Howard (most of the time), Rudd (in 2007 but not 2013), Abbott and Turnbull. Rupert is a right-winger, but when a Labor leader comes along who is fiscally responsible he’s happy to consider backing Labor. He’s wise enough to recognise that a democracy will elect left-wing governments from time to time so it’s better to have a good one when the time comes.

The Australian led the nation in promoting the economic reforms of the 1980s. It has championed free trade, the American alliance and our engagement with Asia and has allocated op-ed space to writers as diverse as Phillip Adams and Janet Albrechtsen. The Australian was wrong on the republic and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but all newspapers get some of the big calls wrong—the Guardian despised Abraham Lincoln and celebrated his death, and the New York Times outrageously downplayed the Holocaust during the Second World War.

Rupert Murdoch loves Australia. Some detractors will trot out the cheap line that he cashed in his passport for American citizenship in the 1980s, but we should all be grateful he did. Rupert is the Alexander the Great of media. He has risen from the proprietor of Adelaide’s then junior newspaper to the king of American news, which wouldn’t have been possible without American citizenship. Along the way he has made his many Australian shareholders richer and thereby poured enormous tax revenues into Canberra.

As a young man Rupert drove across the US and remarked to his travelling companion, “One day when they move the pieces around the chessboard of America I will be a player at the table.” He has been a confidant of US presidents since Kennedy and has used that influence to argue for Australian interests. He has acted as a de facto Australian ambassador in the most powerful nation on earth, earning respect for Australia along the way.

It was recently revealed that President Trump has weekly phone calls with Rupert. Our ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, no doubt played a role in securing an Australian exemption for the recent steel tariff, but I suspect Rupert also nudged the President towards a favourable outcome for us. When Bill Gates was asked what it was like to be the most influential man in the world he replied, “I don’t know. Ask Rupert Murdoch.” But despite his awesome power, despite being in the inner circle of the most powerful of inner circles, Rupert’s Australian patriotism runs deep.

His father Keith was a reporter on the front lines in Gallipoli and it was his gruesome report (which led to his arrest) which gave birth to our most enduring national myth. When Australians are polled on the question of the best Australian movie of all time Gallipoli tops the list. That movie was funded by a private citizen, Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert has been more than generous towards his homeland so I’m reluctant to propose he gives even more, but we simply need the Australian for centuries to come, and only he has the power to deliver. Long into the future, thinking Australians will quietly say to themselves as they are enlightened by their daily reading of the Australian, “Thank you, Rupert Murdoch.”