INSIDE RUPERT MURDOCH

A little known insight into Rupert Murdoch was aired recently on the ABC NT Guest Room show in which Kate O’Toole interviewed veteran singer/entertainer Kahahl. Kamahl told how he had been singing , virtually for his supper, in an Adelaide venue early in his career ,when he was given ten pound by a group in the audience , and approached by Rupert Murdoch .

Murdoch, himself in the early stages of his rise to fame, probably some time after his purchase of the NT News , had arranged for him to perform for six weeks at the Hotel Australia in Sydney. After that gig, Murdoch asked Kamahl what his plans were for the future. When Kamahl said he would return to Adelaide, Murdoch dissuaded him from doing so, saying it was too small a place. Using Kamahl’s words, he said Murdoch had " taken him home " and he had lived with Rupert and his wife for two years.

During that time, Murdoch had helped Kamahl out in his problems with the Immigration Department , writing supportive letters saying this student from Malaysia was expected to be highly successful. That assistance for Kamahl put him on the course to international fame.

Little Darwin has previously pointed out that during the 1960s, Rupert Murdoch allowed the NT News crusading editor, Jim Bowditch, to draw on the paper’s kitty to prevent the deportation from Darwin of the so-called Stayput Malays. This act of financial support, which had to be paid back, had been acknowledged by North Australian Workers’ Union secretary, Paddy Carroll, in a leaflet distributed throughout Darwin.

At the time, Bowditch described Murdoch as Australia’s “ great white hope”, saying he had been a “lefty” at university in England , and had returned to Australia when his father died with new ideas and a different view of the world .

It was also pointed out in a previous Little Darwin post that an uncle of Rupert’s, Professor Walter Murdoch , had been an enlightened individual who supported many causes , some unpopular with the establishment, one such case being the 1934 attempt by the Australian government to prevent Czech journalist , Egon Kisch , an opponent of the Adolf Hitler regime, to enter and stay in Australia to address anti- war gatherings. Sir Keith Murdoch, Rupert’s father, exposed the true position at Gallipoli where allied forces were being slaughtered and upset the military brass and others .