Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Former Aussie Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has blamed “Climate Denier” Rupert Murdoch for the Rise of President Trump, the toppling of Aussie green conservative Malcolm Turnbull, Brexit and anything else he can think of.

Cancer eating the heart of Australian democracy

By Kevin Rudd
27 August 2018 — 12:15am

Beneath the sound and light show that passed for Australian politics last week, there is a much deeper question of what underlying forces have been at work that have brought us this low. The uncomfortable truth is, since the coup of June 2010, Australian politics has become vicious, toxic and unstable. The core question is why?

There have been many factors at work. First, the histrionic politics of climate change dividing the nation for more than a decade – we have lacked the national political maturity to just get on with it, despite Australia being the driest continent on earth.

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But on top of all the above, while manipulating each of them, has been Rupert Murdoch – the greatest cancer on the Australian democracy.

Murdoch is not just a news organisation. Murdoch operates as a political party, acting in pursuit of clearly defined commercial interests, in addition to his far-right ideological world view.

In Britain, Murdoch made Brexit possible because of the position taken by his papers. In the United States, Murdoch’s Fox News is the political echo chamber of the far right, which enabled the Tea Party and then the Trump party to stage a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. In Australia, as in America, Murdoch has campaigned for decades in support of tax cuts for the wealthy, killing action on climate change and destroying anything approximating multiculturalism.

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So how did Malcolm Turnbull alienate Murdoch ? What we know is Murdoch visited Australia in the past few weeks. He called his editors in. And then each of the papers turned feral. Murdoch is a climate change denialist. Presumably Murdoch believed Howard and Abbott that Turnbull, on the legislative recognition of carbon reduction targets, was going too far. Murdoch wanted a Capital C Conservative. He may not have got Dutton. But Morrison is almost as good. Look at the Murdoch coverage of Morrison’s elevation the day after the ballot. Orgasm all round. Nothing on the orgy of political violence preceding it. Nothing to see here.

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Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cancer-eating-the-heart-of-australian-democracy-20180826-p4zzum.html

I think Kevin Rudd is being a bit harsh in his criticism of Rupert Murdoch and climate skeptics. After all, WUWT wholeheartedly supported Kevin Rudd’s bid for the job of United Nations Secretary General.

Rudd would destroy the UN from within: Bernardi

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Former speaker Bronwyn Bishop told Sky there was only one reason to nominate him.

“If you have got a problem with the United Nations and you really want to see its powers lessened, send Kevin,” Mrs Bishop said.

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Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-28/kevin-rudd-cabinet-to-decide-on-un-top-job/7667250

While some of us were worried that Rudd might start WW3 if he tried his hand at international diplomacy, I think many of us were disappointed when Rudd failed to win the top job at the United Nations.