Nine Entertainment-owned papers have been talking up the prospects of Australia going to war with China while failing to declare that Nine chairman Peter Costello has made $millions in recent years lobbying on behalf of defence companies.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has also stuck his head up while never declaring he was and possibly still is on China’s payroll and executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Tory Maguire, is sleeping with the enemy.
One of the numerous articles on this matter in Nine’s “Red Alert series” is titled “Australia faces the threat of war with China within three years – and we’re not ready” which is written as a statement of fact but is only an opinion piece which I find pathetic as it is blatant warmongering. The first question that should be asked is who benefits from propaganda like that?
In the next few days, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce what will be Australia’s biggest-ever defence purchase which will be for nuclear-powered submarines.
A lot of what is being said in the old media about Australia’s defence and its associated issues such as military spending is by companies and people who have skin in the game and that is what this article is about. With so many media companies and commentators having undeclared conflicts of interest, how is the public meant to make sense of Australia’s defence and the $billions spent on defence contracts?
It makes me wonder if the stories in Nine’s papers are part of a government propaganda exercise to justify the purchase of the submarines because the timing seems very coincidental.
David Miles, who is the husband of the executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Tory Maguire, is a Liberal-linked lobbyist and/or Public Affairs lobbyist. Mr Miles played snooker with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the lodge only a couple of weeks ago after paying $10,000 for the privilege. (Click here to read more)
David Miles works for Willard Public Affairs and it says on their website “Willard is a specialist public affairs consultancy, providing political counsel and strategy, media relations, event management and advocacy services.” which would be handy if you had to justify spending $billions on defence.
It must also be handy having his wife run 2 newspapers and their associated websites at Nine Entertainment reaching millions of people daily and even better when Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello likes making $million lobbying on behalf of the defence companies.
Update 15/3/23: I published the below video with further information on YouTube titled “Nine’s paper editor, Tory Maguire, hides her conflict of interest in promoting War with China”.
I have written numerous articles and researched more than any other media about the fact that Nine chairman Peter Costello made $millions from Australia’s failed $5 billion submarine deal with his lobbyist business partner David Gazard who managed to weasel their way into the deal. It was arranged by their good mate former Prime Minister Scott Morrison. (Click here and here to read more)
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age could have and should have declared Nine chairman Peter Costello has made $millions lobbying for defence companies when they are promoting the likelihood of Australia going to war with China.
Is Paul Keating still on China’s payroll?
Other media such as The Guardian have reported former Prime Minister Paul Keating’s attacks on Nine’s papers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age for promoting war while failing to declare Paul Keating has been on China’s payroll for years up to and including at least 2019.
The Guardian reported:
The former Australian prime minister Paul Keating has accused two of the country’s biggest newspapers of “the most egregious and provocative news presentation” in five decades, after they published front-page stories warning the country faced war with China within three years.
The former Labor leader, who has long argued Australia should not be drawn into a war over the status of democratically governed Taiwan, took aim at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age on Tuesday.
The papers published a special report based on assessments of five national security experts who, in a joint statement labelled “Red Alert”, said they believed Australia “faces the prospect of armed conflict in the Indo-Pacific within three years” but was not prepared for such a war.
The story was splashed on the front of the Sydney Morning Herald print edition under the headline “Red alert: War risk exposed”, while the Age used the title “Australia ‘must prepare’ for threat of China war”. (Click here to read more)
Companies making and selling military hardware around the world would love the titles of those articles. Who knows. maybe they paid for them.
In 2019 I reported:
“Paul Keating has sold out Australia for a few Chinese Yuan (dollars) and he continues to undermine the Labor Party for his own greed. The elephant in the room that gets very little mention in the media is that Paul Keating is on the International Advisory Board of the China Development Bank which is a state-owned bank.” (Click here to read more)
Whether Paul Keating is still on the International Advisory Board of the China Development Bank or on the payroll of other Chinese companies is unknown but when he was he always failed to declare it when commenting publicly on China.
The Guardian is normally fairly good in comparison to other old media but has shown they too fail to report conflicts of interest, at least in this case.
Summary
Nine’s propaganda puts pressure on the federal government to spend more on defence and also allows the government to justify any spending on defence and that is where you need to start when trying to work out what is going on with Nine’s dodgy reporting.
Media companies like Nine and their papers are meant to hold politicians to account and Public Affairs companies like Willard advise politicians how to lie to the public so there is a huge conflict of interest for Tory Maguire to be married to David Miles while she is executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. A conflict that should have been declared, but wasn’t, in the articles as well as Peter Costello’s conflict of making money from the defence industry.
As I said above “how are the public meant to make sense of Australia’s defence and $billions spent on defence contracts?” with so many conflicts of interest. Like with so many political issues people on both sides of the argument have their snouts in the trough including the old media.
Please use Twitter, Facebook, email and the other buttons below and help promote this article.
Kangaroo Court of Australia is an independent website and is reliant on donations to keep publishing so please click on the Patreon button below and support independent journalism.
If you would like to support via PayPal use the button below or for other donation options click here to go to the Donations page.
Thank you for your support.
For the KCA t-shirt shop click here.
Categories: Channel 9, Nine Entertainment
While screaming about ‘reds under the bed’ during the 1961 Menzies won when Killen scraped in on the back of Communist Party preferences…….
How is it expected that our politico elite have any respect for the safety of its people when there is much corruption tempting their lake of honesty and values.
I awoke this morning in the colony of Australia, its peoples oppressed and exploited by a colonial model of law set up to pay for their wars.
Good call out Shane. What a pathetic figure head Tory Maguire is.
These former politicians are the epitome of ‘snouts in the trough’ syndrome at the expense of Australia’s security.
Their allegiance to our way of life and values is zero, as to their morals I think I speak for a majority of Australians
“So true “ their allegiance is only to them selfs and their families
$80 billion for 12 subs seemed a bit suspicious to begin with. $6.66 billion for 1 waterproof tin can is a bit over the top.
I thought we were only getting five for that 80 billion.
They haven’t announced how much yet. $80 billion was the old price for the French submarines. The price for the nuclear submarines I think will be a lot more. We should find out in the next few days.
The Big G, whether through financial constraints or outside influences, has been going downhill for a while. Comments are gagged on many of the controversial opinions offered and trash articles seem to be increasing. When a cartoon is the main avenue for serious comments and moderators close down other comments early on the few that are offered, you know something is going on. Thanks to KCA and similar outlaw reporters, Australia struggles on. Keep up the exposures.
KCA really love your work, and without your input most who read your reports have no idea what goes on in Australia and the corruption of all the politicians. First off may I say that, China use to be CCP, and since xi? took office alot has changed. China is now united with Russia, they are all in bricks , but what is not widely published I see Albo went to India he will not get much satisfaction there as they too are with Russia and China.
Poor China becoming our sworn enemy in 36 months. Should we desist from sending iron ore for their armament factories? Pig Iron Bob is alive and well and playing the Stock Market.
I was there and remember “All the way with LBJ”.
Now I believe it is “Striden’ with Biden” … so I have read.
523 Australian were KILLED and numerous MAIMED physically and psychologically in VIETNAM for the USA.
How many will be killed for the USA over TAIWAN (either there or here), which still remains a PROVINCE of CHINA (UN) and our biggest trading partner. ALL FOR THE USA. What absolute lunacy is this. SCHEE!
Today, Mothers of high school children should be very concerned as to the reintroduction of conscription because if we go to war with China, it will definitely happen.
I thought I was doing the right thing last federal election but alas NO. My vote then has been abused. My vote will be far more precious next time … but that may be too late!
Some very good analogies, Fred, which brings back memories for me when our illustriously cunning defence minister, Sir Billy Snedden, signed the last conscription document. The very next day, he booked his own 18 year old son on a plane to London to enrol in a university there, thereby becoming ineligible to serve his country. Liberal voters I relate this fact to still smile and exclaim with, “How clever of him!”
They then cringe when I ask them if they truely relate to that disgusting sentiment @ Anzac Day ceremonies after many parents lost sons in a pointless war.
I also voted Labor, to my shame, and I think I will continue to do so. But, let’s give Paul Keating a bit of credit for highlighting the Cold War nonsense of Albo’s and Penny’s policies. Paul K may be on a Chinese payroll, but he is still a big Labor figure, and what he said makes sense, regardless. We’ll never see leaders adopting progressive, fact-supported political postures in Peter Dutton’s hen.