Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he is motivated to start petition calling for a royal commission in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire after coming to the conclusion News Corp was leading a’ protection racket « For the Coalition
Nearly 6,000 people had signed the petition less than 24 hours after Mr. Rudd on Saturday morning which caused problems on the Australian Parliament website when people attempted to sign
While other parliaments around the world have a « signing threshold » for petitions, Australia does not – meaning Parliament or the federal government will not be required to act on it. the petition
Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who was a close political ally of Mr. Rudd did not comment on Saturday whether he agreed with the former PM, with his office referring inquiries to Labor spokeswoman Michelle Rowland Senior Labor sources said the opposition was unlikely to back Mr. Rudd for a royal commission
M Rudd, who wooed and won support from News Corp in the 2007 federal election, called the company a « cancer of democracy » and said the move was driven by his « passion for the future of the country »
When my government produced a fifth the size of Morrison’s deficit while keeping Australia out of recession – Murdoch would abuse reporting to define us as bad economic managers
In an interview with The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age, M Rudd said the sheer concentration of News Corp ownership in newspapers – around 70% of print readership in Australia – left many in the Australian community reluctant to criticize the company
Although the company has always had an editorial bent, Mr. Rudd said News Corp had gotten much worse over the past decade and was now acting as a « Liberal / National Party protection racket »
« It’s time for the political class to listen to what people are saying I think there is a groundswell in the community which is kind of like my own point of view: enough is enough », a declared M Rudd
« In Queensland, a state which changes federal election results, virtually all newspapers are owned by Murdoch
« When this crowd, this union, this protection racket from the Liberal and National Party supports the Liberal and National Party 95% of the time, it becomes a cancer of democracy »
When asked why he hadn’t publicly taken on the company as Labor leader, Mr. Rudd said his job is to maximize positive media coverage
« Before 2010 Murdoch campaigned against Labor most of the time, but not all of the time
« My job as Labor leader then was to try to maximize our positive coverage However, since 2010 he has gone 100% against Labor »
M Rudd cited his negative coverage of climate change action and the national broadband network as particularly egregious examples He said if the company campaigned against his government’s stimulus measures to stave off the global financial crisis , its newspapers did not criticize the Morrison government for spending even more during the coronavirus crisis
« Ten years ago, when my government reduced one-fifth of the debt level – one-fifth of [Prime Minister Scott] Morrison’s deficit and still prevented Australia from emerging from recession – Murdoch would abuse it day in and day out reports to define us as bad economic managers ”, declared M Rudd
« Murdoch has ceased to be an independent media company and has effectively become the Liberal / National Party coalition partner, and they are acting like a protective racket for each other
« The media coverage, so called, by Murdoch has simply become a means of waging an editorial campaign against the Labor Party »
M Rudd said some sort of government intervention was needed, but the exact regulatory model would have to be decided by a royal commissioner
He said many people in Australian society, including rival media outlets, were afraid to speak out for fear of being targeted by News Corp media
« Even when people are wrongly exposed and vilified by Murdoch, the truth is that there is now a culture of fear in Australia, in which very few people are willing to speak out against Murdoch for fear of what their media empire will make you, « M Rudd said
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World News – AU – Kevin Rudd Creates Petition for News Corp’s Royal Commission
Source: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/kevin-rudd-creates-petition-for-news-corp-royal-commission-20201010-p563vf.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_