Bill Shorten goes to war with News Corp over ‘dishonest scare campaigns’
Budding Prime Minister Bill Shorten has taken the unusual step of hitting out at News Corp, and what he has labelled as the organisation’s “dishonest scare campaigns”.
Nine’s newspapers, including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age – formerly owned by Fairfax Media – drew attention to Shorten’s fighting words, pointing out aspiring leaders tend not to “pick a fight with Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, which accounts for 60% of daily newspaper sales”.
Fergus Hunter’s analysis piece in the Nine-owned papers quotes Shorten as saying News Corp is running “dishonest scare campaigns” around Labor’s tax policies and plans, and said the coverage was the “usual propaganda from News Corp”.
Hunter’s analysis piece which quotes an angry Bill Shorten
On the same day Hunter ran the quotes, the front page of News Corp’s The Daily Telegraph in Sydney ran a front page hitting out at Shorten’s carbon policy.
The front page of Friday’s edition of The Daily Telegraph
It also ran an editorial criticising Shorten’s climate change policy with the title ‘Short on facts, Bill gets angry’.
Shorten is also reportedly not going to meet with Murdoch ahead of the election on 18 May, breaking the mould set by previous leaders.
Labor has been approached for further comment.
About time someone did.
The papers essentially act as a promotional tool of the Liberal Party, and the sooner they are held to account the better.
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Good onya Bill., about time a political leader has told Rupert Murdoch to go to hell, the more it happens the more respect Bill Shorten will earn from the Australian people who have had a gutful of Murdoch interfering in Australia’s political scene.
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It’s about time somebody had the kahunas to stand up to Rupert Murdoch.
His front page coverage of both State an Federal politics has been nothing short of scandalous.
He is trying to pick Australia’s next PM, and all this from a bloke who relinquished his Australian citizenship to become a yank. If he was Russian or Chinese, all he’ll would break loose.
Go hard Bill.
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You just won my vote Bill..
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I thought that the $60b headline was bragging about the Murdoch family’s nett worth.
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HAHA What was the Mediscare? Exactly what he does as well.
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