It has not been mentioned as often as it should have, but the 3 May 2025 federal election in Australia, apart from delivering a two-term Anthony Albanese Labor government, also delivered a fatal blow to the extreme right-wing ideology of the Murdoch media empire and of figures such as former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his former chief of staff and media ideologue Peta Credlin.
Make no mistake — Australians said an unequivocal no to the extreme right-wing takeover of the Liberal Party over the past 25 to 30 years. However, the key players in this strategic defeat are doing whatever they can to avoid losing control of the shattered party, whether federally, or in New South Wales and Victoria.
As soon as the new moderate leader, Sussan Ley, announced the new Coalition Shadow Cabinet, the attacks on her began. It seems that what Murdoch, Abbott, Credlin, Jacinta Price, Gina Rinehart (once again the richest Australian, according to the new AFR Rich List), and others of this calibre want — first and foremost, above all else — is a Liberal Party controlled by them, advancing their own agenda and promoting their own economic and ideological interests.
They do not want a Liberal Party that can become a broader church, as it once was — a “church” that could accommodate the needs of wider sections of conservative and more individualistic Australia.
It all makes sense, of course. Studies and experts consistently point out that around 80 per cent of those on the Top 200 Rich List of The Australian Financial Review or The Australian have made or retained their wealth largely as a result of who governs and who legislates in this vast country we all call home.
