WEBVTT - Real life Succession: who is Lachlan Murdoch? 0:00:02.590 --> 0:00:04.269 A listener production. 0:00:08.010 --> 0:00:10.350 In this episode of The Briefing, a man who is 0:00:10.350 --> 0:00:13.590 becoming one of the most powerful Australians in the world, 0:00:13.830 --> 0:00:18.650 a man we don't really know that much about Lachlan Murdoch. 0:00:18.660 --> 0:00:22.530 He is incredibly private. He has done a remarkable job, 0:00:22.530 --> 0:00:25.980 given he's grown up in the spotlight his entire life 0:00:25.980 --> 0:00:28.750 of keeping his views to himself. 0:00:28.770 --> 0:00:31.650 The Murdoch family are the owners of the huge global 0:00:31.650 --> 0:00:35.220 media empire News Corp, built by Lachlan's father Rupert, who 0:00:35.220 --> 0:00:38.730 is now 92 years old and recently announced that he 0:00:38.729 --> 0:00:42.659 was stepping down. And 52 year old Lachlan, his eldest son, 0:00:42.659 --> 0:00:45.390 will be stepping up as chairman of News Corp. 0:00:45.390 --> 0:00:49.770 New line of succession at Fox News Rupert Murdoch announcing 0:00:49.770 --> 0:00:52.650 he will be stepping down as chairman of Fox and 0:00:52.650 --> 0:00:53.610 News Corporation. 0:00:53.610 --> 0:00:57.450 Now Lachlan is in the driver's seat and he has 0:00:57.450 --> 0:00:58.230 come out on top. 0:00:58.230 --> 0:01:01.200 The 92 year old will hand over the reins to 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.120 his son Lachlan Murdoch. 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.730 So what is Lachlan Murdoch really like? Is he is 0:01:05.730 --> 0:01:09.330 right wing as his father. And we'll also talk about 0:01:09.330 --> 0:01:13.589 the succession style plot twist that could happen once Rupert 0:01:13.590 --> 0:01:17.340 passes away. That is our briefing. First, here are today's 0:01:17.340 --> 0:01:18.360 big headlines. 0:01:20.900 --> 0:01:24.740 Hey, Tom. Hello, everyone. While Federal Parliament has passed the 0:01:24.740 --> 0:01:28.940 government's emergency laws to strengthen visa conditions for a group 0:01:28.940 --> 0:01:33.740 of people deemed high risk after their release from immigration detention. 0:01:33.890 --> 0:01:35.660 We are in a rush. I would like to get 0:01:35.660 --> 0:01:36.470 this through the Parliament. 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.950 Yes, they were in a rush. Home Affairs Claire O'Neill 0:01:39.950 --> 0:01:44.479 in Parliament yesterday, former immigration detainees who breached these new 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.560 laws restricting their movements will face a mandatory one year 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:52.610 jail sentence. So this comes after more than 80 detainees 0:01:52.610 --> 0:01:56.630 were released after a recent High Court ruling that indefinite 0:01:56.630 --> 0:02:02.360 immigration detention is illegal for anyone with no real prospect 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:07.400 of being deported. What a tense week for the government, Tom. 0:02:07.430 --> 0:02:09.889 Yeah, this all blew up very quickly for the government. 0:02:09.889 --> 0:02:13.250 This High Court decision seemingly caught them on the hop 0:02:13.250 --> 0:02:17.030 they weren't prepared for, I guess, what to do with 0:02:17.030 --> 0:02:21.440 these people who'd been released, particularly the more potentially dangerous 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.639 members of that cohort and the opposition have really seized 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.510 on it as a community safety issue. So they've had 0:02:29.510 --> 0:02:33.919 to push through this legislation very quickly. It's no exaggeration 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:36.200 to say they rushed it through. Claire O'Neill just admitted 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.350 it herself. So part of it will be that they'll 0:02:39.350 --> 0:02:42.679 have a curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., where 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.040 an electronic monitoring device, they'll have to report to federal 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:50.840 authorities quite frequently, notify the department if they'd go into state, stateless, 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.960 the memberships of organisations, and they can't work with children. 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.660 And if they don't comply, they could be put behind 0:02:56.660 --> 0:02:59.359 bars for up to five years. Yeah. 0:02:59.370 --> 0:03:02.000 I don't think this is the last we've heard of this. 0:03:02.270 --> 0:03:05.329 There's now talk that some of the people who were 0:03:05.330 --> 0:03:11.690 detained now unlawfully, it's been found they could apply for compensation. 0:03:11.690 --> 0:03:14.870 So yeah, we'll see where all this goes from here. 0:03:14.870 --> 0:03:16.669 I fear the mess is not over yet. 0:03:17.690 --> 0:03:20.240 And it's a shocking story out of Melbourne, where a 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.260 12 year old girl has been charged with murder over 0:03:24.260 --> 0:03:27.110 a stabbing of a 37 year old woman who was 0:03:27.110 --> 0:03:30.410 found dead in her apartment yesterday. So, according to News Corp, 0:03:30.410 --> 0:03:32.780 the girl has an intellectual disability and has been in 0:03:32.780 --> 0:03:36.410 state care for years with concerns for her welfare in 0:03:36.410 --> 0:03:38.510 the weeks leading up to the death. 0:03:39.470 --> 0:03:42.770 Some sad news now a volunteer firefighter has died after 0:03:42.770 --> 0:03:45.410 being hit by a falling tree in north west New 0:03:45.410 --> 0:03:49.100 South Wales. The Rural Fire Service has released a statement 0:03:49.100 --> 0:03:51.559 saying the man had been fighting a blaze with fellow 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.070 crew members when he was struck near Walgett. The emergency 0:03:55.070 --> 0:03:59.450 services minister has expressed his condolences, saying it's a tragic 0:03:59.450 --> 0:04:03.380 reminder of the dangers our volunteer heroes put themselves in 0:04:03.380 --> 0:04:05.390 to protect our communities. 0:04:06.530 --> 0:04:09.440 And there's been a big legal fight between Macca's and 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.589 Hungry Jack's. So McDonald's took Hungry Jack's to the federal 0:04:12.590 --> 0:04:18.110 court over an alleged trademark infringement. McDonald's argued Hungry Jack's 0:04:18.110 --> 0:04:21.680 was in danger of deceiving its customers when it cheekily 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:25.790 launched the big Jack burger in 2020, which looked very 0:04:25.790 --> 0:04:29.330 similar to the Big Mac, big Jack versus Big Mac. 0:04:29.330 --> 0:04:33.710 The court ruled the big Jack was not deceptively similar 0:04:33.710 --> 0:04:37.219 to Big Mac. I guess basically that people could tell 0:04:37.220 --> 0:04:42.110 the difference. And so, yeah, the big Jack wins and remains. 0:04:42.260 --> 0:04:44.840 Yeah, I think, you know, you'd know where you're going 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.240 for a start, whether it's big Jack or Big Mac, 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.350 but it is mega cheeky because I've looked at this, 0:04:51.350 --> 0:04:55.700 I've analysed this, put my investigative journalism hat on. I 0:04:55.700 --> 0:04:58.010 was looking at pictures of both the Big Mac and 0:04:58.010 --> 0:05:01.250 Big Jack's side by side, and they look in terms 0:05:01.250 --> 0:05:05.240 of ingredients. They look very, very much the same except 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.820 for the sauce placement. The sauce on the big jack 0:05:07.820 --> 0:05:11.570 is on top of the patty on the Big Mac. 0:05:11.570 --> 0:05:14.330 It's on top of the bun. The other really hilarious 0:05:14.330 --> 0:05:18.680 component to this is Hungry. Jack's put out an ad 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:23.150 during court proceedings saying, we're being sued by an American 0:05:23.150 --> 0:05:27.170 burger chain. But the thing is, our big jack patties 0:05:27.170 --> 0:05:33.020 are 25% bigger. So then as part of this court case, 0:05:33.020 --> 0:05:35.930 they had a whole bunch of people travel to 50 0:05:35.930 --> 0:05:40.430 different outlets and weigh the patties to make sure. And 0:05:40.430 --> 0:05:46.220 they actually found out that Hungry Jack's patties were only 15% bigger. 0:05:47.900 --> 0:05:51.890 So Patty wow really got into the detail on these burgers, 0:05:51.890 --> 0:05:56.090 didn't they? When you look at them, they, you know, 0:05:56.089 --> 0:05:59.719 they have that triple bun thing going on the double patty. 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:04.190 They are very, very similar. And actually it's sort of 0:06:04.190 --> 0:06:07.340 backfired for McDonald's, I reckon, because I actually hadn't heard 0:06:07.339 --> 0:06:09.350 of the big Jack, but I'm keen to give it 0:06:09.350 --> 0:06:10.130 a try now. 0:06:10.220 --> 0:06:14.150 Oh, there you go. We've also got another interesting consumer 0:06:14.150 --> 0:06:19.279 story about hard solo, the alcoholic version of solo. There 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.690 were a lot. A concerns that it used really similar packaging, 0:06:22.690 --> 0:06:26.260 and that it wouldn't have been much of a transition 0:06:26.260 --> 0:06:31.839 for kids to confuse the two, or maybe transition over 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:37.180 from drinking regular solo to drinking the alcoholic version. Well, 0:06:37.300 --> 0:06:42.430 Carlton United Breweries now has to rebrand. The Australian Beverages 0:06:42.430 --> 0:06:48.729 Advertising Code regulator found that that would have a strong 0:06:48.730 --> 0:06:52.960 appeal to minors. So they've got to change the name, 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:57.160 the packaging. The word solo has to be removed, but 0:06:57.370 --> 0:06:59.800 the drink will stay the same and that drink has 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.580 sold out. So it's very popular so far. Right. 0:07:03.580 --> 0:07:05.770 Okay. So the new product is going to be called 0:07:05.770 --> 0:07:09.490 Hard Rated, which is a bit of a weird name. 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.250 They're going to have to change the packaging as you said. 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:14.290 I don't know about this. There's a lot of other 0:07:14.290 --> 0:07:17.920 alcoholic drinks that also appeal to children, and I imagine 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.500 it sort of ruins it. The connection with the old 0:07:20.500 --> 0:07:23.290 solo was part of what made this kind of interesting. 0:07:23.290 --> 0:07:27.220 So yeah. Will it continue to sell, you know, with 0:07:27.460 --> 0:07:30.430 this new name that doesn't really make sense. And the 0:07:30.430 --> 0:07:33.220 packaging that doesn't really connect with the old solo? I 0:07:33.230 --> 0:07:37.570 don't know, but I guess it's an interesting precedent because, yeah, 0:07:37.570 --> 0:07:39.820 if there were lots of other soft drinks that were 0:07:39.820 --> 0:07:42.190 really popular, and then they just made a slight tweak 0:07:42.190 --> 0:07:44.620 to turn it into an alcoholic drink, that would be 0:07:44.620 --> 0:07:48.280 a problem. But yeah, in this particular case with solo, 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.670 it's just such an old school brand. I don't even 0:07:51.670 --> 0:07:54.430 know how popular it is with kids. So yeah. 0:07:54.580 --> 0:07:56.920 And I can't really imagine, you know, the old school 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:59.830 solo commercials with a dude in the canoe going over 0:07:59.830 --> 0:08:00.670 the waterfall. 0:08:00.790 --> 0:08:01.570 Iconic. 0:08:01.750 --> 0:08:04.000 Imagine if he'd been on the cans before he tried 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:08.830 to do that. Going whitewater rafting drunk? Not good. Yes. 0:08:08.830 --> 0:08:12.100 Fair point. Although, you know, some of that stuff I 0:08:12.100 --> 0:08:14.860 wouldn't have done sober. It looks absolutely crazy. That guy 0:08:14.860 --> 0:08:18.370 in the canoe. Catch you later, Katrina. It's time to 0:08:18.370 --> 0:08:31.370 go deep on Lachlan Murdoch. Okay, let's talk real life 0:08:31.370 --> 0:08:34.850 succession and get to know Lachlan Murdoch. Now that he's 0:08:34.850 --> 0:08:37.940 officially becoming the chairman of News Corp, along with the 0:08:37.940 --> 0:08:41.390 other big Murdoch company, which he runs, Fox Corp. Paddy 0:08:41.390 --> 0:08:45.020 Manning is an investigative reporter who's been researching the Murdochs 0:08:45.020 --> 0:08:48.680 for over two years. He's got a podcast on Rupert 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.260 called The Last Mogul and a book on Lachlan called 0:08:51.260 --> 0:08:54.370 The Successor. Paddy, thank you so much for joining us. 0:08:54.380 --> 0:08:55.280 Thanks for having me, Tom. 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:58.730 So given how much power Lachlan Murdoch has slowly accrued 0:08:58.730 --> 0:09:02.240 over the years and now consolidated, do you think we 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:04.550 here in Australia really know that much about him as 0:09:04.550 --> 0:09:05.240 a person? 0:09:05.420 --> 0:09:09.380 He is incredibly private and I think that he has 0:09:09.380 --> 0:09:12.170 done a remarkable job, given he's grown up in the 0:09:12.170 --> 0:09:16.760 spotlight his entire life of keeping his views to himself. 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.220 On the other hand, he spent more time here than 0:09:19.220 --> 0:09:23.270 any of the other Murdoch children. He loves Australia. I 0:09:23.270 --> 0:09:27.650 think he is, you know, better understood here. Perhaps, than 0:09:27.650 --> 0:09:30.559 he is in America, where they really scratch their heads. 0:09:30.830 --> 0:09:33.559 His story seems to be one of many things, but 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.220 contrasts is one of them, and there's really interesting contrast 0:09:37.220 --> 0:09:40.340 to explore. One of them is the contrast between him 0:09:40.340 --> 0:09:44.719 and his father on a personal and political level. How 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:46.490 different or how similar are they? 0:09:46.670 --> 0:09:51.200 Similarities. They love newspapers. Lachlan is the only one of 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.080 the kids that's taken much interest in that newspaper and 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:55.910 the historical roots of the business. 0:09:55.910 --> 0:09:57.920 So you start in your book by talking about the 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.880 time he spent in some of the Queensland newspapers. Yep. Courier-Mail, etcetera. 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.579 Yep. That's right. He gets thrown into the deep end 0:10:04.580 --> 0:10:07.790 in Australia. He comes here because he reads a biography 0:10:07.790 --> 0:10:11.359 of his grandfather, Sir Keith, and says, I want to 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.390 understand the roots of the family and the family business. 0:10:14.690 --> 0:10:17.330 And he gets thrown into the Super League wars in 0:10:17.330 --> 0:10:20.900 the 90s and is very quickly up the kind of 0:10:20.900 --> 0:10:26.270 elevator running Holt Street at running the Australian operations of 0:10:26.270 --> 0:10:30.140 News Corp at Holt Street in Surry Hills in Sydney. Okay, so. 0:10:30.140 --> 0:10:33.320 He's into the newspapers like his father. He genuinely is interested. 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:37.309 Yes. The difference is, of course, that he's inherited at all. 0:10:37.309 --> 0:10:42.410 He hasn't built an empire. He's inherited. And and he's 0:10:42.410 --> 0:10:44.900 had an incredibly I mean, like Rupert, he had an 0:10:44.900 --> 0:10:49.550 incredibly privileged upbringing. You know, Keith Murdoch was wealthy and 0:10:49.550 --> 0:10:52.980 Rupert went to the best schools and went to Oxford University. Sure. 0:10:53.030 --> 0:10:53.720 But Keith owned. 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.140 Two newspapers, and Rupert took it from there. So an 0:10:57.140 --> 0:10:59.270 incredible journey in Rupert's lifetime. 0:10:59.420 --> 0:11:02.480 He definitely exceeded his father. I mean, there is an 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.810 argument that his father, as managing director of the Herald 0:11:05.809 --> 0:11:09.890 and Weekly Times, this is Sir Keith, built Australia's first 0:11:09.890 --> 0:11:13.910 national media chain. But he didn't own those that empire. 0:11:13.910 --> 0:11:17.750 He just ran it. Rupert built the world's first global 0:11:17.750 --> 0:11:22.610 media empire, just having inherited the one newspaper in Adelaide effectively. 0:11:22.610 --> 0:11:27.530 And yeah, he outmatched his father, probably in the 80s 0:11:27.530 --> 0:11:31.040 and then has continued for another three decades. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:35.329 So that's a key difference that Lachlan inherited it very different. 0:11:35.420 --> 0:11:39.199 Absolutely. And the other thing is that Lachlan I don't 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:43.189 think aspires. He doesn't consider himself a journalist. Keith was 0:11:43.190 --> 0:11:45.980 a journalist, always editor of the Melbourne Herald and started 0:11:45.980 --> 0:11:50.480 as a reporter. Rupert was thrown in. He does consider 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:52.850 himself a journalist. He's actually always been a proprietor, has 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.180 been the publisher, but he is a sleeves rolled up 0:11:56.179 --> 0:12:00.110 media proprietor on the news floor, writing editorials. 0:12:00.110 --> 0:12:00.949 Editorial input. 0:12:01.190 --> 0:12:04.219 Totally. All his life. He loves newspapers and that is 0:12:04.220 --> 0:12:08.250 part of his being. But that is where Lachlan is. 0:12:08.260 --> 0:12:11.390 He's not quite. He's more of a businessman than a journalist, 0:12:11.390 --> 0:12:14.090 and I don't think he aspires to be the kind 0:12:14.090 --> 0:12:18.380 of editor in chief, the way highly interventionist, the way 0:12:18.380 --> 0:12:21.800 Rupert has been all the way through his 70 year career. 0:12:21.980 --> 0:12:25.520 Nor do I think Lachlan wants to be the political 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.760 kingmaker that Rupert has been, really. You know, I don't 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.130 think he's got that, you know, and you could see 0:12:31.130 --> 0:12:33.860 it as benign in some ways. It's he doesn't have 0:12:33.860 --> 0:12:36.980 that ambition to sort of run the world. You know, 0:12:37.010 --> 0:12:41.060 the way Rupert has had strong opinions on every elected 0:12:41.059 --> 0:12:44.840 leader in Australia, the United Kingdom, in the US for 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:45.650 all those decades. 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.680 And generally right wing increasingly so as you sort of 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.250 chart his journey through the 70s and 80s. But is 0:12:52.250 --> 0:12:55.100 Lachlan much more of a centrist? Because you you have 0:12:55.100 --> 0:12:57.020 this great quote from him where he says, I'm not 0:12:57.020 --> 0:13:00.890 I'm not someone that fits into the left or right binary. 0:13:00.890 --> 0:13:04.970 I'm someone that is a bit more socially progressive, but 0:13:05.179 --> 0:13:08.630 economically I'm quite conservative. That's how he tries to position himself. 0:13:08.630 --> 0:13:11.630 So is that true? Is that a fair representation given 0:13:11.630 --> 0:13:13.280 the choices he's made over the years? 0:13:13.580 --> 0:13:16.490 Well, yeah. It's true that he has always described his 0:13:16.490 --> 0:13:21.680 politics that way socially smaller, liberal and economically conservative. And 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:23.780 in the 90s when he came to Australia, he was 0:13:23.780 --> 0:13:27.610 anti Hanson pro Republic. You know he's. He had the 0:13:27.610 --> 0:13:30.460 short cropped hair with the tattoo. Is into rock climbing. 0:13:30.460 --> 0:13:35.050 He was kind of cool, hip, young, you know, cosmopolitan. Dude. 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.630 Fast forward to now. I don't know how you reconcile 0:13:40.750 --> 0:13:45.429 being socially progressive with also, for example, donating $1 million 0:13:45.429 --> 0:13:48.819 to the Senate Leadership Fund of Mitch McConnell, who is 0:13:48.820 --> 0:13:52.359 the architect of the conservative super majority on the US 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.090 Supreme Court that just did away with Roe v Wade. 0:13:55.780 --> 0:13:59.589 If you're donating to Mitch McConnell's leadership fund, how can 0:13:59.590 --> 0:14:03.429 you describe yourself as socially progressive? It doesn't wash in 0:14:03.429 --> 0:14:04.090 my mind. 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:07.030 Well, the direction of Fox News would also raise that 0:14:07.030 --> 0:14:09.640 same question. But you deal with that in the book. 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.220 And there's a quote from him saying, that's a business 0:14:12.220 --> 0:14:17.380 decision because it's the only big conservative news channel. So 0:14:17.380 --> 0:14:20.410 is it just about business rather than his values? 0:14:20.650 --> 0:14:24.400 I think it is primarily about business for Lachlan. I 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.340 think he looks at Fox News and it's a successful business. 0:14:27.340 --> 0:14:30.190 It's an incredible business model. I mean, it has just 0:14:30.190 --> 0:14:34.120 coughed up almost $1 billion in defamation payments in the 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.720 Dominion case, and it's still trucking along. The share price 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:42.220 has basically remained steady. So it's an incredible business. In 0:14:42.220 --> 0:14:45.190 his most recent book, Michael Wolff, Not to plug another author, 0:14:45.190 --> 0:14:47.979 but he describes it as perhaps the most profitable media 0:14:47.980 --> 0:14:52.300 business ever made. Fox News it is unbelievably profitable, $2 0:14:52.300 --> 0:14:56.680 billion a year that it makes. But Lachlan also has 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:00.700 an idea that, you know, someone has to represent. You know, 0:15:00.700 --> 0:15:03.820 the quality of debate is lifted by a diversity of opinion. 0:15:03.820 --> 0:15:07.570 Someone has to represent that middle America, if you like, 0:15:07.570 --> 0:15:10.810 which is underrepresented by the, you know, small liberal media. 0:15:10.810 --> 0:15:13.230 The way the Murdochs see it, you know, dominated by 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.750 coastal elites, that's literally how they talk. And someone had 0:15:16.750 --> 0:15:19.570 to represent middle America. Now, he's not saying that he 0:15:19.570 --> 0:15:22.030 agrees with everything that goes to air on Fox News, 0:15:22.030 --> 0:15:25.030 but he, I think, believes there's a public interest in 0:15:25.030 --> 0:15:28.480 representing a broader variety of views. 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.750 The other interesting contrast in the life of Lachlan Murdoch 0:15:31.750 --> 0:15:36.310 is that of him and his siblings, particularly his brother James. 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:40.000 They're less than two years apart, so very close relationship 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.630 over the years, but they do seem like very different characters. 0:15:43.630 --> 0:15:46.570 What's going on with the siblings now that Lachlan has 0:15:46.570 --> 0:15:50.710 ascended to the top job? And how much store can 0:15:50.710 --> 0:15:53.830 we put in these reports that there's so much tension 0:15:53.830 --> 0:15:57.610 that once Rupert actually passes away, the other siblings could 0:15:57.610 --> 0:15:59.020 roll him straight away? 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.840 Well, I think it's a very real scenario, and one 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.440 that probably does concern Lachlan. What I was told the 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.410 way I was guided is that when I was researching 0:16:08.410 --> 0:16:13.240 the biography, talking to other members of the sources close 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.540 to other members of the family, was that the siblings 0:16:16.540 --> 0:16:21.250 were determined once Rupert passed, to reassert control of the 0:16:21.250 --> 0:16:24.220 Murdoch family businesses and do it in a way that 0:16:24.220 --> 0:16:29.170 protects and enhances democracies around the world rather than undermines them. Right. 0:16:29.170 --> 0:16:32.560 So they're in a family trust which controls a large 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.020 chunk of the voting shares. Correct? 0:16:35.020 --> 0:16:38.050 Right. Yep. And they say they control about 40%. It's 0:16:38.050 --> 0:16:40.510 enough for the Murdoch family to control the empire. 0:16:40.510 --> 0:16:42.369 Because if you were to get the other 60% to 0:16:42.370 --> 0:16:44.859 vote against them, everyone in that 60% would have to agree, 0:16:44.860 --> 0:16:46.810 which is unlikely. Very unlikely. So this is where it 0:16:46.810 --> 0:16:49.810 comes back to the TV show succession as possible, where 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.930 they're trying to corral the other shareholders to vote with 0:16:52.930 --> 0:16:54.070 them on certain deals. 0:16:54.370 --> 0:16:59.050 Lachlan. Well, perhaps course correct. It is possible they have 0:16:59.050 --> 0:17:00.730 just done it this year in the wake of the 0:17:00.730 --> 0:17:04.150 Dominion settlement. Within a week, Lachlan took the decision to 0:17:04.150 --> 0:17:08.110 fire their biggest star, Tucker Carlson, the most controversial person 0:17:08.109 --> 0:17:09.550 on air in cable television. 0:17:09.700 --> 0:17:10.390 Not Rupert's. 0:17:10.390 --> 0:17:14.169 Lachlan call. Well, you know, they have been doing this 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:19.030 delicate kind of dance with Trump all year. Well, in fact, 0:17:19.030 --> 0:17:22.570 since 2020, how do they, especially now that they've had 0:17:22.570 --> 0:17:27.130 to pay out to the Dominion $787 million and they've 0:17:27.130 --> 0:17:28.900 got more litigation coming. 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.629 For our listeners. That's for essentially pushing the stolen election 0:17:31.630 --> 0:17:34.120 narrative on Fox News despite knowing it was bullshit. 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:38.230 Exactly, exactly. All those evidence, all that emails, texts, the 0:17:38.230 --> 0:17:41.800 sworn testimony of Rupert, Lachlan and others all show that 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.879 none of them believed, except maybe Maria Bartiromo. None of 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.690 them believed that the election had been stolen from Trump, 0:17:49.690 --> 0:17:52.570 but they still put it to air multiple times. 0:17:52.570 --> 0:17:55.180 Okay, so a lot of Australians are very critical of 0:17:55.180 --> 0:17:57.730 the Murdochs and their impact on politics, particularly here in 0:17:57.730 --> 0:18:01.090 Australia and of course, in America. Kevin Rudd is one 0:18:01.090 --> 0:18:03.850 of the loudest voices, less so now that he's in 0:18:03.850 --> 0:18:08.590 the ambassador role in America, Malcolm Turnbull, many others. Do 0:18:08.590 --> 0:18:12.160 you think the critics of the Murdochs and their influence 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.209 could actually see the company move in a more favourable 0:18:16.210 --> 0:18:19.690 direction under Lachlan than it has under Rupert Murdoch? 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.180 Look, I think it is possible because there will be 0:18:22.180 --> 0:18:25.840 the pressure from his siblings to do that. The other 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.800 alternative is that. The Murdoch family decide once Rupert has 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:34.179 passed to just sell. Literally break it up so the. 0:18:34.180 --> 0:18:36.100 Three other siblings could force Lachlan to do that. 0:18:36.100 --> 0:18:38.530 They could. They could put the whole thing on the market. 0:18:38.590 --> 0:18:41.650 Interestingly enough, in the Michael Wolff book that has just 0:18:41.650 --> 0:18:45.310 come out, there's a lot of verbatim quoting from Roger Ailes. 0:18:45.310 --> 0:18:49.750 Wolf and Ailes died in 2017. Former boss of the who, 0:18:49.750 --> 0:18:53.109 the founder co founder with Rupert of Fox News and 0:18:53.109 --> 0:18:56.800 Roger Ailes tells Wolf that the Murdoch in his view, 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:00.490 the Murdoch children all regard Fox News as a steaming 0:19:00.490 --> 0:19:04.780 pile of shit on the table. They're all embarrassed by it. Now, 0:19:04.780 --> 0:19:09.010 I have dealt extensively with the people around Lachlan. He 0:19:09.010 --> 0:19:11.950 is running Fox News, but there's a tension there because 0:19:11.950 --> 0:19:15.460 he's based here in Australia more often than not. 0:19:15.460 --> 0:19:18.850 Okay, so he's grown up in a different generation. He's 0:19:18.850 --> 0:19:21.760 more interested in living in Sydney, which is, you know, 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.420 a better lifestyle than living in America. You're saying that 0:19:25.420 --> 0:19:28.660 his politics aren't as hardcore as his father. You're saying 0:19:28.660 --> 0:19:31.750 that his views, whatever they are, are going to be 0:19:31.750 --> 0:19:35.590 tempered by his siblings, who are much more progressive. Link 0:19:35.590 --> 0:19:38.859 all of that together. Very different picture emerges of the 0:19:38.859 --> 0:19:40.960 leadership of this big corporation. 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:44.560 Yeah. I mean, look, Lachlan has a reputation for being 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.590 right of Rupert. A lot of people will say that, 0:19:47.590 --> 0:19:53.560 but it's just not the way I've been briefed. I mean, look, 0:19:53.890 --> 0:19:56.200 he just put Tony Abbott on the board. Tony Abbott 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.750 is an arch conservative. He's just been appointed to the 0:19:58.750 --> 0:20:04.240 board of Fox Corporation. He's a, you know, trenchant climate denial. 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.960 He's just opposed the voice referendum. I mean, he is 0:20:07.990 --> 0:20:11.320 staunch Catholic. He is as far right as you get 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.290 in the Liberal Party in Australia. You know, I'm not 0:20:14.290 --> 0:20:18.130 naive about Lachlan's politics, but I think the combination of 0:20:18.130 --> 0:20:22.389 the dynamic within the family and this kind of unspoken 0:20:22.390 --> 0:20:27.310 ambivalence that, you know, seems to kind of be deep 0:20:27.310 --> 0:20:31.570 seated does lead me to question whether Lachlan really is 0:20:31.570 --> 0:20:34.270 the kind of right wing ideologue that most people assume 0:20:34.270 --> 0:20:35.080 that he is. 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.050 Paddy Manning and his work on Lachlan Murdoch is in 0:20:38.050 --> 0:20:40.870 his book called successor, and you can get across his 0:20:40.869 --> 0:20:44.350 new podcast series on Rupert Murdoch. It's called Rupert The 0:20:44.350 --> 0:20:52.359 Last Mogul. Antoinette is going to bring you the weekend briefing, 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:54.609 dropping into your feed tomorrow. Antoinette, who are you speaking 0:20:54.609 --> 0:20:55.990 to this week? 0:20:55.990 --> 0:21:01.030 I have a super interesting chat with author feminist Clementine 0:21:01.030 --> 0:21:06.609 Ford about her latest book, I Don't The Case Against Marriage. Super, 0:21:06.609 --> 0:21:11.440 super interesting, particularly given I've been married for 13 years 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.260 and Clem makes the case that women shouldn't take their 0:21:14.260 --> 0:21:19.990 husbands surnames. I've taken mine, so it's both personal, political, entertaining. 0:21:19.990 --> 0:21:23.470 We don't agree on everything, but I think it makes 0:21:23.470 --> 0:21:26.140 for a fascinating chat and certainly left me with lots 0:21:26.140 --> 0:21:27.250 of things to think about. 0:21:27.250 --> 0:21:30.520 Yeah, Clementine Ford on the briefing. That will be a 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:33.880 very interesting chat. Thank you, Antoinette, and thank you very 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:37.240 much to our hard working team here at the briefing. 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:44.450 I'll catch you Monday. Listener.