Articles by Stephen Mayne

Having seen how Gina Rinehart treats her kids, does any self-interested Fairfax Media investor seriously fancy being a minority shareholder in a complex beast controlled by Australia’s most litigious Rich Lister.

As James Packer decides who he should sell his $1 billion controlling stake in Consolidated Media Holdings to, News Corp and Telstra have every reason to feel aggrieved.

James Packer’s expensive campaign to discredit Echo Entertainment Group chairman John Story continues afoot at the same time as the casino billionaire’s own investment record has again come into sharp focus after the latest disaster at Network Ten.

Julia Gillard’s former sports minister Mark Arbib didn’t waste any time cashing in on his insights. But then, conservative politicians are just as guilty of grabbing plum post-ministerial jobs.

For sheer audacity, nothing compares with James Packer’s extraordinary decision to requisition an EGM of Echo Entertainment group shareholders to remove John Story and install his old mate Jeff Kennett.

With its share price sliding to record lows, Fairfax Media is now in the invidious position of having the most wildly optimistic balance sheet of any ASX200 company.

Breaking the pokies promise reinforced the PM’s untrustworthiness and Wilkie went on to vote with the opposition on the question of suspending Thomson from Parliament.

The first time I met Joe Hockey was 19 years ago in the back of a cab from Sydney Airport with my then boss, Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale. Joe was working for NSW Premier John Fahey and we were packed into the cab like sardines listening to the big guy rattle off all the things […]

Wayne Swan has never actually delivered his own budget surplus during five years as Treasurer, so his $1.5 billion prediction for 2012-13 starts life with little credibility.

Nick Cater, editor of The Weekend Australian, is one of the lesser known Murdoch editorial heavyweights in Australia.

For a media proprietor, James Packer is one of the least communicative public company leaders in Australia.

Given the industry that has emerged to sledge and analyse Rupert Murdoch after 10 months of the phone-hacking scandals, you soon learn who is worth listening to.

Rupert Murdoch repeatedly denied the undeniable when it came to his core business of using media power to impose his ideology on democracies while maximising his family’s wealth.

Julia Gillard’s calculated decision last December to trade her allegiance with Andrew Wilkie for a sordid pact with Peter Slipper is arguably the biggest mistake she has made as Prime Minister.

Amid all the corruption claims engulfing the Health Services Union, one of the most surprising revelations has been the size of the pay packets of suspended president Michael Williamson and national secretary Kathy Jackson.

Fairfax and News Ltd should not be collaborating in a five-minutes-to-midnight attempt to boost the Australian Press Council in order to fend off Ray Finkelstein’s call for a statutory regulator.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012, is one day when The Australian Financial Review, the world’s most expensive financial daily, is certainly worth its $3 cover price.

After a three-year debate, Manningham City Council in Melbourne’s affluent eastern suburbs tonight will finally have a public vote on whether to introduce double rates on the municipality’s seven pokies venues.

There’s an obvious solution to the Gina Rinehart family mess. The key resources assets should be sold. How much does the family need? Well, surely Rinehart would be happy to walk away with $4 billion in cash and the four kids could get by with $500 million each.

While young Packer appears to have moved away from Scientology since his father’s death in late 2005, the puzzling ebbs and flows of his political associations are a little harder to fathom — Bob Katter being the latest.

Aside from Crikey publisher Eric Beecher and media writer Margaret Simons, there have been few media professionals who have strongly endorsed Ray Finkelstein’s recommendations for a government funded News Media Council.