The News Limited papers have been pounding Stephen Conroy for having met Kerry Stokes while holidaying in Colorado, prior to the Rudd government’s hand out to free to air tv stations. [For the record, Conroy denies the two events are linked or that there's anything improper about his meeting.]
This afternoon, Crikey broke the story that Rupert Murdoch met Tony Abbott while he was in Australia for his mother’s birthday celebrations.
There’s now a simple test for News Ltd – whether it covers Abbott’s meeting with its proprietor in the same way as it covered Conroy’s, and whether it demands the same details of Abbott as the Sunday Telegraph demanded of Conroy – what was discussed and what hospitality did Abbott enjoy from Murdoch?
And, most of all, was there a deal made between the two for favourable coverage?
Those are good questions, though it’s a bit hard to imagine how Abbott’s coverage in The Australian could be any more favourable than it is already…
Update: Trevor Cook on Stephen Conroy’s defence of the licence fee decision.
Did Abbott give Murdoch a $250,000,000.00 gift of taxpayer money? Otherwise it ain’t nearly as newsworthy as Conroy bumping into Stokes on the slopes.
I just saw a bit on SkyNews about this, and I have a feeling that Rudd’s challenge for Abbott et al to ‘prove’ that Conroy has bribed the three commercial TV networks will be very effective at shutting down criticism on the frontpages of the MSM for this policy. Even Newscorpnewspapers will let it slip.
I fully expect it to all be relegated to the business pages, with MBA professorial/industry analyst types providing quotes about how this is a very complicated policy, and it would be a shame if the investment community were misled by populist guff.
Prediction: The Fin Review and the Age are way, way more likely to try and make this an issue of good governance for the election than Rupert’s stable. ‘All-pollies-are-whores’ columns by the likes of Neil Mitchell in the Herald Sun won’t count.
Hence the fact that people skills is now backing away from his comment that the Govt. was “bribing ” the media for favorable commentary. This is indicative of the sort of crap we can expect from this duplicitous creep, when he gets found out he runs from his comment. This bloke is an opportunist who does not have any courage, much less any conviction.And yet again the Australian electorate will have this ghastly old man who abides in a far off country attempting to use his influence to act as the puppet master of the Liberal Party.
Menzies must be spinning in his grave.
“…pounding Stephen Conroy for having met Kerry Stokes…”
Not that I’m aware what the political implication of these two chaps is, or what this is supposed to broadly signify, but the simple realistic part is, everybody is liable to meet everybody while on holiday in Colorado, esp. if it was Aspen or Vail… and esp. two fellow-countrymen in a tiny foreign resort town, where you can hear each other’s accents from across the room in the lounges of the only two or three good hotels in town. What I want to know is, did they meet in *Fort Collins*, where the good microbreweries are? Because then you’ve got potential for an epic pissup.
(also, did I use “pissup” correctly?)
Nope, SATP it is newsworthy, particularly given Murdoch’s pronouncements on paywalls, and fair use.
Hypothetical: What if Abbott has agreed in principle to hear Murdoch out on the above issues with a view to changing Australia’s regulatory landscape to suit the dirty diggers ambitions?
I’m betting that would be worth a hell of a lot more in cash and prizes than what Conroy has thrown at the private FTA networks.
Anytime a pollie meets a media mogul it is absolutely legitimate and in the public interest to find out why?
j_p_z: you used “pissup” quite correctly. But now you’ve got me intrigued about the microbreweries in Colorado. Are there any particular ones you’d recommend?
“did they meet in *Fort Collins*, where the good microbreweries are”
You certainly know how to build bridges. US micros are the best. We are starved out here, not to mention ripped off. Sierra Nevada is about it (hardly a micro I know) and you pay $30 for a six pack! I was in the US last September. Drank beer from lunchtime ’til 2AM everyday, and most of the time they were all different. You are some lucky son of a gun.
Sorry about the thread hijack, can we have a beer thread?
Abbott’s now refusing to answer questions on this morening’s alleged bribe now. I’ve worked out the difference between People Skills and Ratty. Ratty used to just lie outright, eg say no when he knew the answer was yes, claim he had no idea about something when he knew all about it, etc. Abbott, OTOH, makes things up. (A bit like his comrade, Barnaby.)
Oh I get it. Fort Collins in microbrewery #3…
Stevo: “Stokesie wtf. Wot you doin’ ‘ere ya cuxt?”
Stokesie: Fark, jesus, arnt u sposed to b workin out how to fucxin get thees dick pullers off the bloody interlubes and watchin the tele againe?
Stevo: jes, ya carnt work all the time ya farkwit. Even kevvys havin a bit of a brake and lettin shit for brains have a free dump. Want another one maaate?
Stokesie: na carnt afford it mate.
Stevo: my shout.
The Oz certainly has gone full throttle in its boostersim of Abbott. The Likes Of Dennis S and Janet A can hardly contain their glee at the turn in the polls.
What SATP said.
If you guys can’t see the difference between a meeting of a Government Minister with a TV CE immediately prior to a $250 million hand out to a TV industry which will be rather influential in said Government’s election prospects – and both participants in the meeting have pointedly refused to deny the hand out was the subject of the conversation – and a meeting between the Leader of the Opposition and a media mogul not leading to a such a stupendous splurge of tax-payers money in an election year, then you are…well, you’re exhibiting normal LP standards of objectivity I suppose.
And no, Phil @5, just making up stuff about what Abbott and Murdoch talked about does not make the parallel any closer.
Peter Costello in yesterday’s Age skewered Conroy’s disgraceful approach to his job brilliantly.
It’s not just News Ltd – Fairfax also having a go -
http://www.theage.com.au/national/conroy-dines-out-on-tv-freebies-20100217-odwo.html
Isn’t The Age reporting on Stephen Conroy receiving “incidentals” from companies whose businesses rest within his portfolio the kind of proper investigative journalism people would be wanting from the Australian media, rather than Dennis Shanahan musing out loud whether he found Kevin Rudd’s press conference boring?
While Conroy happening to meet up with a prominent Australian media identity on the ski slopes of Colorado may well be purely coincidental, accepting hospitality from said PAMI is at best unwise. But then we all knew Conroy was a goose already, right?
I for one would not be at all sad to see him kicked off the front bench. My preference would be getting relegated due to sheer incompetence rather than insinuations of impropriety though.
Yeah, there is a substantial difference here, and it comes to the tune of $250M. Conroy and Stokes, Abbott and Murdoch are welcome to meet with each other whenever they want. However, when an outrageous gift turns up within weeks, it’s pretty clear that the government needs to explain their rationale.
Really, this is bullshit and I don’t like it at all. It has now got to the point where I will hold my nose and vote Greens from here on in, absent a decent independent.
Still some good news there, I have just move from Footscray to the seat of McMillan/Narracan, and rather than being a super-safe Labor seat, I’m now able to protest against the creep Russell Broadbent.
Anything that hastens the departure of Senator Conroy from political life is fine by me. The guy apparently has no principles and treats the public with poorly concealed contempt.
Actually i think that Conroy has been great in his defence of the (very stupid) internet filter, always prepared to engage in the pages of crikey.
I’m old enough to remember 1975 and how the Murdoch press papers were all on song to get the Labor government out. Abbott and Murdoch together = don’t trust ‘em.
Re. Conroy again, could this have an unforeseen good side effect – if he’s the most enthusiastic proponent of the National Net Nanny, and he has to stand aside, perhaps it’ll die the natural death it should? Or am I being excessively Pollyanna-ish?
The money to free-to-air television stations is outrageous. There’s no contractual obligation for them to use it for Australian content and they’re not likely to unless forced. Oz free-to-air tv is still extremely profitable. The license fee they pay to producers for their programs haven’t increased in 20 years. This is just a gift to these guys.
The excuse is that it’s cost them a fortune to convert to digital. Cry me a river. They’re absolute sharks. (Splutters with disgust)
Much as I hate to admit it SATP hit the nail on the head in the first comment. It’s not that Conroy met Stokes, it’s that he gave him an extraordinary and quite indefensible gift soon afterwards. The iniquities of Murdoch – all real enough – are beside the point.
Frankly it stinks – if a Howard government minister did that we would have all been up in arms. Next time we’re bemoaning the lack of action on the Murray-Darling basin, the poverty and hardship caused by totally inadequate dole payments, the running down of public health and public education, the lack of public transport, etc just remember where a slab of the money that could have helped these went.
The worst thing about the digital upgrade excuse is that they’ve ALREADY BEEN compensated.
If we’re going to piss money into media, I would have prefered it went to the ABC.
I’m with DD. Conroy has once again proved what an idiot he is. The sooner he is shuffled off the front bench the better. The govt is lucky it’s issues Australians don’t care much about. Imagine if it was Health portfolio, and he was meeting with Pfizer or NIB before a huge free cash donation. Appalling.
Nothing wrong with Abbott’s meeting. If you think there is, no double standards please.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/when-rudd-met-murdoch-subject-menu-was-secret/2007/04/21/1176697161133.html
I remember stories of UK Tory leader David Cameron flying out to tropical climes to meet Murdoch on the latter’s private, $20 million dollar yacht some months ago. A great place for a business meeting. These sort of incentives might not work with such pious folk as Rudd and Abbott, but I gather whilst privately enjoying the sun and service with the powerful Billionaire good Mr Cameron was probably given a taste of scones, tea and biscuits with a promise of more to come if he played his cards right – the typical sort of temptations a Billionaire might bring into play to grease the wheels of future commerce. Fresh, moist crumpet and cheesecake might not suit the appetites of pollies wearing hairshirts but there’s many a red-blooded Brit politician who values the tasty, exotic foodstuffs Murdoch can procure for their private delectation.
SATP @1, how do we know he didn’t make Rupie an offer of taxpayers money? That meeting is every bit as newsworthy as Conroy’s meeting with Stokes; there’s an election this year and it’s reasonable to assume that characters like Murdoch will be sniffing around to find out what’s on offer from both the government and opposition.
I think a lot of conclusion jumping is happening as well. It seems unlikely to me that funding of that magnitude would be handed over so quickly after one meeting.
In Crikey today, Bernard Keane raises the question of whether there’s anything in the fact that Abbott’s attack on Conroy’s giveaway to the FTA stations came after his meeting with Murdoch. The Shadow Communications Minister, Tony Smith, had previously supported it:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/02/18/moguls-and-ministers-mix-it-up/
What ever happened to not only not doing wrong, but also avoiding seeing to be doing wrong? Both meetings raise problems for the MPs who participated in the meetings, and just because Conroy’s smacks of quid pro quo doesn’t mean that Abbott’s meeting isn’t newsworthy.
Not that it excuses what Labor has done, but Howard once pledged a similar amount to commercial TV.
Hmmm, were the regional TV nets tapping into that digital broadcasting fund all the way back during the years of the second Howard ministry? Now that is longtermism in action.
Conroy should have spread the money out over a decade, just as Alston (remember him? I barely do) did.
My prediction stands, and the actions of the previous govt gives it credence, it would seem: this is now filler for the business pages.
I think Rudd appointing Mike Kaiser to a $450,000 taxpayer funded position with no application process was extremely unethical but this is fairly standard procedure from the ALP. They have mastered the skill of deception and spin. Kaiser was also forced to resign from QLD politics because of alleged electoral fraud and now he’s Rudd’s number one man. No wonder our nation is broke.
Old Uncle Rupes will be dead soon enough and then the whole putrid empire will collapse. Much the same happened after Packer died and even though others will take their places, the long suffering public will get a slight reprieve. I think Murdoch is having one last throw of the dice as he knows the time is drawing near and his power and influence is draining away. Hence the rabid attack on Labour in the run-up to an election. The money that underpins his power is drying up and so his behaviour becomes more and more erratic and desperate. He is like an old boxer who is used to winning and now finds himself on the ropes. Sure he has bits of sharpened metal concealed within his gloves and will probably land a few telling blows but essentially he is about to lose the only things that prop up his tragic existence. Power, influence, prestige and the sort of sycophancy that can only be bought. It gives me enormous comfort to know that eventually all despots end their days not covered in glory but a mountain of shit.
I think those who heel to Abbott’s bride dog whistle will find themselves suffocating under the mountain of documentation that goes with this deal. A long drawn out and well documented negotiation doesn’t really sound like a bride to me. Still I expect Abbott will run himself into the ground in pursuit of this rabbit.
In fact I tend to think that this is how Abbott attack strategy will play out. Every government act will be blown up into a disaster of Hindenbergian proportions. So far we’ve had insulation, FTA and the debt crisis. The public will just stop listening as the rhetoric fails to match the reality. The Libs have no chance anyway but it’s going to be a tedious nine months putting up with them until the election. But it’ll be worth waiting for.
Perhaps the comparison between Conroy/Stokes v Abbott/Murdoch or Rudd/Murdoch is not the correct ones to make. Instead try Bishop/Stokes ‘[Bishop] a prominent backer of Kerry Stokes’ ambition to acquire Perth’s major newspaper, was treated to a trip to the Beijing Olympics by the media mogul’s private company…Australian Capital Equity’ http://www.theage.com.au/national/liberal-defends-games-freebie-20080911-4es2.html
The time line in this matter is important. Crikey was the only news outlet to ramp up this story. The MSM was silent especially the Australian which normally is not slow in putting the boot into the Rudd Government. But then Rupe arrives in town suddenly it is P1 lead in the Oz a week after the announcement. Tony has brekkie with Rupe and suddenly it is a bribe. Sounds like Rupe issued his riding instructions to Chris Mitchell at the Oz and then Tony Abbott and it’s game on. Foxtel is dear to Rupe’s heart and really Kim Williams at Fox is outrageous in the campaign he is running. If he wants a level playing field perhaps Foxtel should start paying for the use of the Telstra cable and some licence fees on top of that.
Listening to Conroy there is a logic to the reduction that means he can justify it. But I am uncomfortable with Conroy at the best of times His internet filter and his propensity for getting himself in what appear to be compromising situations with Moguls while negotiating the moguls makes him a slow moving car crash.
He should be flicked but not for this just general incompetence.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-policy-switch-after-murdoch-chat-20100218-oiut.html
Melissa said:
bzzt … Rudd didn’t appoint Mike Kaiser to anything. Neither did Conroy. Please check your facts and correct ….
ta …
I think Melissa’s probably a Liberal party comment bot, Fran. I suspect we’ll see a lot more of them this year – the postmodern version of the old Young Liberal/Labor phone tree.
Update: Trevor Cook on Stephen Conroy’s defence of the licence fee decision.