John Gibbons: How one tycoon’s mendacity has dragged us to the age of extinction

The world’s worst climate denier is now launching an editorial campaign supporting a carbon-neutral future in an attempt to rehabilitate his image. It won’t wash

‘In a world without Murdoch, there most likely would have been no Brexit and no Donald Trump presidency in the US, while critical actions to address the global climate emergency might well have been taken ten or even 20 years ago.’ Picture: AP

Rupert Murdoch “isn’t just an Australian problem, or even an Anglosphere one”, according to Kevin Rudd. The former prime minister of Murdoch’s native Australia is of the view that the media tycoon has become a “a planetary problem”.

Such acute criticism might usually be dismissed as politically motivated. But Rudd’s take is shared by Malcolm Turnbull, another former Australian prime minister, but from the opposite end of that country’s political spectrum. “The most effective voice ...