There’s a new kid in town when it comes to media ownership with mining magnate and Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, now a significant shareholder in Southern Cross Media.
This means she could be a potential influential figure for the likes of Channel 7 and more than 90 radio stations, including Sydney’s Triple M and 2Day FM.
Back in January, Seven West Media, long dominated by billionaire Kerry Stokes, merged with Southern Cross Media, making it a very substantial player in Australia’s news and entertainment sector.
Also in that month, successful pub accumulator Arthur Laundy and his company bought 2GB, 3AW, 4BC and 6PR from Nine for $56 million, which means that new business interests in the media could end up being a plus for the Coalition and One Nation.
Arthur’s son Craig Laundy is a former Liberal MP. At a time when small business is questioning the Albanese Government’s commitment to the sector following the capital gains tax discount changes in the Budget, significantly, Craig was a former Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation under the Turnbull Government.
Meanwhile, Gina Rinehart has reached out to Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party, recently gifting the rising leader a plane!
In April, news reports told us that one of Rinehart’s firms donated a $1.5 million plane to the party, which Hanson said would help her get out to more regional towns. At the same time, the party was gifted $2 million in cash. This shows that this party is not only attracting support in opinion polls but it’s getting growing financial support, which could be helped by media support at a time when the Albanese Government is seen as anti-business.
It’s also timely as Australian media has become increasingly tribal. While younger voters might be less committed to political parties and media that is clearly less objective, older voters tend to show via what they watch and listen to how they think politically.
Right-wing voters tend to be more inclined towards Sky News and talkback radio stations. Left-leaning voters would be more comfortable with the ABC and many of Nine’s publications, such as The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
While I’m not saying the likes of Rinehart and Seven’s long-term major shareholder, Kerry Stokes, will try to influence its news services, it’s very likely that the likes of One Nation will be given a fair exposure on these significant media connections to voters.
What’s interesting is that the history of wealthy owners buying media businesses for reasons other than creating great products that listeners, viewers and readers want, can backfire.
As Warwick “the rock dog” Rankin used to tell us as young players at Triple M in the 90s: “It’s what goes up the stick, that counts.”
If the new owners of the big media operations assist in a fair coverage for all political voices, then this trend of new billionaire owners could prove to be a positive development. However, if they try to use their new assets for political influence, they could find they’ve invested their money unwisely.
I have to say, I liked what Arthur Laundy said about his company’s interest in acquiring a radio network. This is what the SMH reported when Nine’s sale went public: “We see strong similarities between hotels and talkback radio. In public bars, we chat with our customers about the issues of the day. A lot of the time, the thoughts in the minds of our customers are shaped by the work you do in radio … and vice versa. Many of our patrons call the open line using the talkback catch-cry ‘long time listener, first time caller’. They’re also the best arbiters of what passes ‘the pub test’.” That’s a guy who gets business!
By the way, Rinehart has informed the stock market that her firm had signed an agreement with former Seven executive Bruce McWilliam that she would fund his investment in Southern Cross Media (SCM) if he had issues stumping up the money. McWilliam has bought 10% of SCM at 57 cents. The Daily Telegraph informs us: “Her company, Hancock Prospecting, would be able to own 44 million shares (more than 9%), in the event that McWilliam can’t meet his end of the deal. This puts the Mr McWilliam and Mrs Rinehart in combination as the TV and radio network’s second biggest owner behind Kerry Stokes.”
