Senator threatens Murdoch with subpoena following refusal to front inquiry

An Australian Greens Senator is threatening to issue a subpoena to compel Murdoch to front the ongoing national inquiry into media diversity

Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has delivered a thinly-veiled threat to issue Lachlan Murdoch with a subpoena if he continues to refuse to speak out on the ongoing national inquiry into media diversity.

“There’s no reason he can’t front that inquiry,” she said. ” If he refuses, the committee will consider what we do.”

“We have the power, of course, to effectively subpoena people. At this point we’ve asked him to appear. I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t.”

“It’s an opportunity for the Murdoch empire to respond to much criticism”

“This is about giving an opportunity for balance,” she said.

The Australian senate inquiry into the state of media diversity has been underway since November 2020. Its purpose is to examine the state of media concentration in Australia.

Australian currently has some of the highest rates of media concentration in the world. A recent Guardian analysis of Emma data found that the top four companies in Australia account for 92% of the market.

Murdoch’s machine of misinformation

More recently, Hanson-Young called for an investigation into Murdoch’s Sky news following Youtube suspending the channel’s account for spreading misinformation.

“When we have such concentrated media, they’re not accountable to anyone,” said Hanson-Young.