Editing Rupert Murdoch (section)

=== Political activities in Australia ===
Murdoch found a political ally in Sir [[John McEwen]], leader of the Australian Country Party (now known as the [[National Party of Australia]]), who was governing in coalition with the larger Menzies-Holt-Gorton [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]]. From the first issue of ''The Australian,'' Murdoch began taking McEwen's side in every issue that divided the long-serving coalition partners. (''The Australian'', 15 July 1964, first edition, front page: "Strain in Cabinet, Liberal-CP row flares.") It was an issue that threatened to split the coalition government and open the way for the stronger Australian Labor Party to dominate Australian politics. It was the beginning of a long campaign that served McEwen well.<ref name="Garden">Don Garden, ''Theodor Fink: A Talent for Ubiquity'' (Melbourne University Press 1998)</ref>

After McEwen and [[Robert Menzies|Menzies]] retired, Murdoch threw his growing power behind the [[Australian Labor Party]] under the leadership of [[Gough Whitlam]] and duly saw it elected<ref>{{cite news|title=A man of selfish loyalties: Rupert Murdoch's apparent overture to Tony Blair strikes a chilling chord among Australian politicians he has supported|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a-man-of-selfish-loyalties-rupert-murdochs-apparent-overture-to-tony-blair-strikes-a-chilling-chord-among-australian-politicians-he-has-supported-1376362.html|date=14 August 1994|work=The Independent|access-date=24 July 2011|location=London|first=Robert|last=Milliken|archive-date=11 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111193311/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a-man-of-selfish-loyalties-rupert-murdochs-apparent-overture-to-tony-blair-strikes-a-chilling-chord-among-australian-politicians-he-has-supported-1376362.html|url-status=live}}</ref> on a social platform that included universal free health care, free education for all Australians to tertiary level, recognition of the People's Republic of China, and public ownership of Australia's oil, gas and mineral resources. Rupert Murdoch's backing of Whitlam turned out to be brief. Murdoch had already started his short-lived ''National Star''<ref name="Garden" /> newspaper in America, and was seeking to strengthen his political contacts there.<ref>Shawcross, (1987) pp. 30–39</ref>

Asked about the [[2007 Australian federal election]] at News Corporation's annual general meeting in New York on 19 October 2007, its chairman Rupert Murdoch said: "I am not commenting on anything to do with [[Australian politics]]. I'm sorry. I always get into trouble when I do that." Pressed as to whether he believed Prime Minister [[John Howard]] should continue as prime minister, he said: "I have nothing further to say. I'm sorry. Read our editorials in the [[News Corporation#Final holdings|papers]]. It'll be the journalists who decide that – the editors."<ref>Michael Roland, [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/20/2064922.htm Murdoch tight-lipped on election] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021032818/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/20/2064922.htm |date=21 October 2007 }}, [[ABC News Online]], published 20 October 2007</ref>

Murdoch described Howard's successor, Labor Party Prime Minister [[Kevin Rudd]], as "more ambitious to lead the world [in tackling climate change] than to lead Australia" and criticised Rudd's expansionary fiscal policies in the wake of the [[2008 financial crisis]] as unnecessary.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 November 2009 |title=Rudd too sensitive to criticism: Murdoch |url=http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-too-sensitive-to-criticism-murdoch-20091107-i2oo.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112000940/http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-too-sensitive-to-criticism-murdoch-20091107-i2oo.html |archive-date=12 November 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010 |work=Brisbane Times}}</ref> In 2009, in response to accusations by Rudd that News Limited was running vendettas against him and his government, Murdoch opined that Rudd was "oversensitive".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/rudd-too-sensitive-for-own-good-murdoch/story-e6frg8zx-1225795200045 |title=Rudd too sensitive for own good: Murdoch |work=The Australian |date=7 November 2009 |access-date=9 November 2009 |archive-date=12 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112001418/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/rudd-too-sensitive-for-own-good-murdoch/story-e6frg8zx-1225795200045 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although News Limited's interests are extensive, also including the ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|Daily Telegraph]]'', the ''[[Courier-Mail]]'' and the ''[[Adelaide Advertiser]]'', it was suggested by the commentator [[Mungo Wentworth MacCallum|Mungo MacCallum]] in ''[[The Monthly]]'' that "the anti-Rudd push, if coordinated at all, was almost certainly locally driven" as opposed to being directed by Murdoch, who also took a different position from local editors on such matters as climate change and stimulus packages to mitigate the effects of the [[2008 financial crisis]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Comment: Rudd and the Murdoch Press |date=September 2009 |first=Mungo |last=MacCallum |url=http://www.themonthly.com.au/nation-reviewed-mungo-maccallum-comment-rudd-and-murdoch-press-1945 |work=[[The Monthly]] |pages=8–11 |access-date=23 July 2011 |archive-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712160106/http://www.themonthly.com.au/nation-reviewed-mungo-maccallum-comment-rudd-and-murdoch-press-1945 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Murdoch is a supporter of the formation of an [[Australian republic]], having campaigned for such a change during the [[1999 referendum]].<ref>{{cite web|title = Murdoch appeals to Australians' pride|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/nov/04/australia.monarchy1|website = the Guardian|access-date = 20 September 2015|first = Duncan|last = Campbell|date = 4 November 1999|archive-date = 19 July 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160719224457/https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/nov/04/australia.monarchy1|url-status = live}}</ref>