Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has delivered one of his most pointed attacks yet on Rupert Murdoch's media empire, urging Australians to treat Sky News and other News Corp outlets the way one would treat a drunk stranger ranting outside a pub — by carefully stepping around them and hoping they don't make a mess on you.
Turnbull made the remarks at a private event on June 30, recorded at the launch of a new book examining the Murdoch media empire. The speech, in which he also took aim at the Labor and Liberal parties and the ABC for their handling of News Corp titles including Sky News, The Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, has since drawn significant attention.
The 'drunk at the moon' comparison
"In a sense, we've got to start treating the rantings on the Murdoch media, particularly Sky News after dark, the way you treat the drunk that you see late on a Saturday night, raving and screaming and raging at the moon outside a pub," Turnbull said in the recording. "You know? Oh, OK, right, just carefully step by them, hopefully he doesn't vomit on you or something — and that's basically — you've got to basically ignore it."
He urged the audience to "evict" Murdoch from living "rent-free" in the heads of Australia's political class, media and public life, arguing that swing voters do not consume News Corp media. "Why any Labor government ever takes any notice of what Murdoch says is utterly beyond me," he said.
The remarks were delivered at the launch of Getting Murdoched, a book written by two academics and former News Corp journalists who allege the company has a pattern of intimidating critics. A spokesperson for News Corp declined to comment. A spokesperson for Murdoch also declined to respond when approached.
Murdoch's legacy: Trump, Brexit and climate denial
Turnbull did not hold back on his assessment of the 95-year-old media mogul's broader legacy, pointing to several of the defining political events of the past decade.
"He was the single most influential voice in promoting Britain's withdrawal from Europe, Brexit. What a great thing that turned out to be!" Turnbull said, his sarcasm pointed. "And then, of course, we have Donald Trump. So Trump, Brexit, and climate denial — those are the great achievements. That's what all of this power has been achieved to do, and intimidating people along the way."
Turnbull also accused News Corp of having created a "polarised echo chamber" within Australian politics that it was now using to "suck the Liberal Party down, destroying it in the process".
A long-running feud — and a pointed contrast with Albanese
Turnbull served as prime minister from 2015 to 2018 and has become an increasingly vocal critic of Murdoch since leaving office. He has previously alleged — and repeated the claim in this speech — that he learnt of a push to remove him from the prime ministership through billionaire Kerry Stokes, who reportedly told him Murdoch was working to oust him.
Murdoch has previously dismissed Turnbull's claims, calling him "nuts" and "paranoid" in a 2024 interview with his own network. "He didn't like the fact that we supported Tony Abbott versus him. That's all," Murdoch said at the time.
Turnbull's latest broadside arrives amid a notably warmer relationship between News Corp and the current Labor government under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has attended a series of News Corp events — including a private Christmas party hosted by Lachlan Murdoch in 2024, a Sky News studio launch earlier this year, and The Australian's 60th birthday celebrations two years ago. News Corp has also claimed credit for sparking the government's policy banning social media use for children under 16.
Since former prime minister Kevin Rudd's appointment as Australian ambassador to the United States in 2023, Turnbull has taken the lead in a push for a royal commission into the Murdoch media empire — a petition that attracted more than 500,000 signatures.
