Paul Keating's shock tirade at Channel 9 during ABC interview
<p>Former prime minister Paul Keating has unleashed a scathing tirade against the shock Nine and Fairfax merger announced yesterday.</p>
<p>Appearing on ABC’s <em>7.30</em> on Thursday night, Mr Keating slammed the Nine network’s plans to create a new national media giant, reiterating claims he had made in a statement released earlier on Thursday that Nine had the ethics of an alley cat and its pus will leak into Fairfax.</p>
<p>When asked by host Elle Fanning why he had such a “dim view” of Nine, Mr Keating did not hold back.</p>
<p>“It’s such a low brow outfit,” he said. “I have said chequebook journalism, foot in the door journalism. It’s a low brow show and it always has been, and people who have worked there have been happy to take the money working for a low brow outfit.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr">Fmr PM Paul Keating tells <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/abc730?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#abc730</a> that Nine is a “low-brow outfit” whose pus will leak into Fairfax. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/auspol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#auspol</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FairfaxNine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FairfaxNine</a> <a href="https://t.co/eyPaTIKstR">pic.twitter.com/eyPaTIKstR</a></p>
— abc730 (@abc730) <a href="https://twitter.com/abc730/status/1022432205065216001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
<p>“I have fought more television and radio companies than anyone in the business, and my fight - a series of issues I have had with Nine were about one thing and one thing only: Kerry Packer trying to get hold of control of John Fairfax and sons,” he replied.</p>
<p>“Because as Prime Minister I prevented Kerry Packer lifting his share of John Fairfax to 14.9 per cent control.</p>
<p>“Kerry Packer had the Nine Network chase me in private life.</p>
<p>“But I’m a big boy, I know how to punch. People said to me after a whole series of things on <em>60 Minutes</em>. They said, ‘Mr Keating, are you going to take Mr Packer to court for defamation?’ I said, ‘No, I have more expensive remedies in mind for Mr Packer’.</p>
<p>“That was taking Fairfax from him which I had Brian Haradine (who was in the Senate) do in 1997 to 1998. In other words, I made sure he didn’t allow (John) Howard to get a majority to let Turnbull do what he did today.”</p>
<p>Under the $4.2 billion deal, Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited (Nine) and Fairfax Media Limited (Fairfax) will merge, with the new company to simply be called Nine.</p>
<p>The deal is expected to be completed at the end of the year with the centuries old Fairfax name to disappear.</p>
