Plus: Qantas’ soaring profits.
View in browser
Saturday Aug 26
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Youtube
%%=v(@salutation)=%%
This week Anton Nilsson dug into why tax officials were swarming the offices of an Australian PwC veteran based in New York.

Elsewhere John Buckley reported on Lachlan Murdoch stumping up the legal costs of Crikey-publisher Private Media, Julia Bergin attended the coronial inquest into the deaths of four Aboriginal women killed by their partners, and Ben Eltham brought you a piece about wage theft and Victoria's new governor that Monash University refused to publish.

Meanwhile we kicked off an ongoing series titled The Murdoch Century, which examines the legacy of the company inherited by Rupert Murdoch — from the first mastheads to the media machine that would grow into a global behemoth.

Plus Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer wondered whether supermarket profits help to fuel inflation.

We hope you're having a fabulous weekend.
Gina Rushton Gina Rushton,
Editor
Advertisement
Ad
A ghost charity and rescue dogs: the mystery of a well-connected, ex-PwC businessman
ANTON NILSSON

David Collard is an Australian PwC veteran and New York-based businessman facing investigations in both countries. As tax officials swarm his offices, Crikey wonders: what happened to Collard's charities?

David Collard (Image: LinkedIn)
 
If you ‘don’t know’ about the Voice, how about you actually listen?
CELESTE LIDDLE

Do conservatives have nothing better to do than fuel misinformation about the Voice to Parliament? Apparently not.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price speaking during the 2023 Conservative Political Action Network Conference (CPAC) in Sydney (Image: AAP/Dean Lewins)
 
Academic freedom needs protection from all stripes — not just China
WANNING SUN

Chinese influence and foreign interference on Australian campuses are serious issues, but the media risks reporting one-sided narratives.

Advertisement
Ad
The piece Monash Uni refused to publish on wage theft and Victoria’s new governor
BEN ELTHAM

Victorian governor and ex-Monash Uni vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner has a chequered past when it comes to accusations of wage theft.

Victoria's new Governor Margaret Gardner and Victorian Premier Dan Andrews (Image: AAP/Diego Fedele)
 
Is Minns channelling Morrison and Taylor? NSW mulls its own ‘CoalKeeper’ tax
BERNARD KEANE

Will the NSW government do the right thing in expediting investment in renewables, storage and energy transmission or take the easy way out?

Angus Taylor, Scott Morrison and Chris Minns (Images: AAP/Mick Tsikas/Jane Dempster)
 
‘Why’d you tell that silly story?’: Zachary Rolfe’s bodycam footage played at inquest
JULIA BERGIN

An inquest into the deaths of four Aboriginal women killed by their partners found one victim was flagged as a maker of 'false statements'.

Former constable Zachary Rolfe outside the Alice Springs Local Court in 2022 (Image: AAP/Aaron Bunch)
 
Lachlan Murdoch pays Private Media $1.3m costs, ending high-profile defamation saga
JOHN BUCKLEY

The Fox News CEO sets condition that Private Media donates all GoFundMe donations to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom.

Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch (Image: AAP/Steven Saphore)
 
AUKUS reveals the Scott Morrison show is the only one in town
MAEVE MCGREGOR

Is it supreme pragmatism, or the betrayal of time-honoured values and history in pursuit of power, that animates modern Labor?

Former prime minister Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Images: AAP/Zennie/Private Media)
 
A faction too much friction: anti-AUKUS forces drowned out by Marles’ manifesto
GUY RUNDLE

The remaining progressive and left forces within the ALP have been pretty much blown out of the water by the nuclear subs deal.

Defence Minister Richard Marles March 2021 (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)
 
David Anderson takes the ABC into the future as Ita Buttrose and Stan Grant leave
JOHN BUCKLEY

In this week's Media Briefs, Stan Grant resigns from the ABC altogether, Ita sets sail, and David Anderson locks in another term.

Stan Grant (Image: AAP/Private Media)
 
How Rupert Murdoch surpassed his father, and created a democratic nightmare
BERNARD KEANE

Like his father Keith, Rupert Murdoch has cultivated politicians, crushed competitors and expanded his empire. But it was Rupert who realised the billions to be made from white grievance.

Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of News Corporation (Image: AAP/Zennie/Private Media)
 
Thank you, shoppers: unlike Coles, no need for shoplifting for Woolies shareholders
GLENN DYER and BERNARD KEANE

Are supermarket profits helping fuel inflation? It's a non-issue for Woolworths shareholders -- their dividends soared much faster than CPI.

(Image: Woolworths)
 
Qantas’ bloated profit is built on underpaid workers and overpaying passengers
MICHAEL SAINSBURY

The national airline's domestic side went from a $765m loss in 2022 to a profit of $1.27bn in 2023, a 63% leap on pre-COVID numbers.

(Image: Gorkie/Private Media)
 
Labor’s hypocritical response to the climate crisis is a sad joke on us all
NICK FEIK

The government's 2023 intergenerational report warns of economic headwinds due to climate change. Will it do anything about it? Unlikely.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Images: AAP/Private Media)