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Former prime minister Tony Abbott is on track to join Fox Corporation’s board of directors next month, in Lachlan Murdoch’s first major move as he looks to stamp his authority as the company’s sole chair.
The announcement to nominate Abbott to the Fox board came one day after Lachlan Murdoch’s confirmation as heir to the News and Fox empire, carrying on the Murdoch tradition of bringing notable figures from the world of politics into the family’s corporate inner sanctum.
Tony Abbott will formalise his relationship with the Murdochs next month.Credit: SMH
If the move is confirmed at Fox Corp’s annual meeting in November, Abbott will join conservative US politician Paul Ryan on the board, while former US senator Kelly Ayotte and former Spanish president José María Aznar sit on the News Corp board.
Bush and Trump administration secretary Elaine Chao also sat on News Corp’s board between stints in government.
Lachlan Murdoch and Abbott are close friends, their relationship dating beyond Abbott’s ascent to the top of Australian politics, with Sarah Murdoch, Lachlan’s wife, launching Abbott’s book, Battlelines, in 2009.
“I don’t know that he’s got much media experience beyond a few years in journalism,” says The Australian’s longest-serving editor-in-chief, Chris Mitchell. “I’m not sure he’d bring any particular skills to do with publishing, TV or pay TV.”
Mitchell, who has known Abbott since his days at The Australian in the 1980s, and Lachlan Murdoch “since he was a boy”, sees the two as a “meeting of minds”.
Apart from his time at The Australian, Abbott also worked at The Bulletin before being appointed press secretary to former Liberal opposition leader John Hewson in 1990.
“He didn’t have media respect,” Hewson says, noting his speech writing was usually “extremely right wing”.
Despite Abbott’s limited media experience, Fox’s board says he has the necessary skills and experience required, as noted in its AGM proxy statement.
Abbott ticks seven of the 10 boxes, according to the board, and is likely to earn anywhere between $467,000 and $543,000 depending on his extra duties, a similar return to his earning power for two years as prime minister.
After losing his electoral seat of Warringah in 2019, Abbott was appointed as a trade adviser to the UK government in 2020.
The decision to install Abbott may not be based on his relevant media qualifications, says Stephen Mayne, Crikey founder and shareholder activist, adding the Murdochs have form appointing former conservative politicians.
“It’s more than an anomaly now,” Mayne says.
If Abbott is successful, he will replace Jacques Nasser, a former CEO of Ford and chair of BHP. Mayne says Abbott replacing “Rupert’s most credible director”, having served 22 years, is telling of the direction of Fox.
Paul Ryan, former US House speaker, is on the Fox board.Credit: AP
Aznar serves as the best comparison to Abbott, a former senior executive in Rupert Murdoch’s team says. The former Spanish president’s appointment in 2006 to the News Corporation board is “a kind of pat on the back” for like-mindedness, Spain’s support of America in the Gulf War and “doing right by Western democracy”.
Aznar remains on the News Corp board 17 years later.
Former senior adviser to John Howard Niki Savva, who profiled Abbott’s leadership in a highly publicised 2016 book, now calls him a “warrior for conservative causes” in Australia and overseas, referencing his “pivotal role” in the 1999 republic referendum, and similarly in the likely successful campaign against the Voice, to be determined on Saturday.
The board move confirms News and Fox are “almost as much political organisations as commercial organisations”, says Mayne, this sentiment hardening since Fox’s exit from entertainment through the sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney in 2019.
An individual in Lachlan’s inner circle says political thinking can be an asset on boards, noting that Ryan, a former speaker of the House and Mitt Romney’s 2012 running mate, adds value in their directorial duties.
Long-time News Limited chair and CEO John Hartigan says, “he’s not out of place”, despite never getting the impression Abbott either had, or lacked, relevant media skills.
“Is Tony the appropriate person? Who knows,” says Hartigan, though he and Mitchell agree it is natural for a new chair to build out their own support.
Another factor behind Abbott’s nomination could be Lachlan Murdoch’s desire to shore up support in the event of the death of Rupert Murdoch, 92, who maintains considerable power through the Murdoch family trust.
Veteran ABC broadcaster Jon Faine, once referred to by Abbott as an “equal opportunity mongrel”, a badge he wears with pride, questions whether the former prime minister will look at Fox News’ role in a similar light in his new role.
“There’s great responsibility involved in these jobs, as with anyone in the media, and it will be really interesting to see which version of Tony Abbott we’re going to get on this board.”
Abbott declined to comment. Fox was approached for comment.
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