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Pay TV? We're all paying for Foxtel, to the tune of $30 million
It's hard to believe, but it looks like the Turnbull government is going to get away with its $30 million backhander to Rupert Murdoch.
I know life comes at you fast these days, but it seems odd that the story of the undocumented grant to Foxtel is going to recede into the fog of winter.
That would be a shame. So let's remind ourselves of this delicious little scandal before it disappears down the memory hole forever.
Less than two weeks ago the ABC made an FOI application for documents relating to a $30 million grant to Murdoch's pay TV business. But they haven't yet, and seem disinclined to do so any time soon. The government, always keen to keep onside with the maximum Sith Lord, is likewise refusing to explain how it came to gift a media giant that doesn't pay any tax, with a lazy 30 million dollars lifted from the back pockets of those long-suffering mug punters who do.
- John Birmingham
It's hard to believe, but it looks like the Turnbull government is going to get away with its $30 million backhander to Rupert Murdoch.
I know life comes at you fast these days, but it seems odd that the story of the undocumented grant to Foxtel is going to recede into the fog of winter.
That would be a shame. So let's remind ourselves of this delicious little scandal before it disappears down the memory hole forever.
Less than two weeks ago the ABC made an FOI application for documents relating to a $30 million grant to Murdoch's pay TV business. But they haven't yet, and seem disinclined to do so any time soon. The government, always keen to keep onside with the maximum Sith Lord, is likewise refusing to explain how it came to gift a media giant that doesn't pay any tax, with a lazy 30 million dollars lifted from the back pockets of those long-suffering mug punters who do.
The Communications Minister Mitch Fifield mumbled that, "This was a decision of government, announced in the budget as part of the media reform package", which is the equivalent of saying "This was a decision to give Rupert some money, announced in the budget as part of our plans to give Rupert some money."
This just in … Rupe's not short of a quid. Foxtel might be suffering from the arrival of much cheaper and arguably better streaming services such as Netflix and Stan, but the solution to that problem isn't corporate welfare. It's providing a better service at a reasonable price.
Given that Foxtel, like all Murdoch companies, is something of a black box – billions of dollars flow in, no discernible tax payments leak out – it's unlikely we'll ever know what became of that $30 million.
But it's weird, don't you think, that there's not a single document anywhere in Canberra that explains how they came to trouser it in the first place.
Stan is owned by StreamCo, a joint venture of Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Co.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/blunt...o-the-tune-of-30-million-20170801-gxmyq3.html