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‘It was vitriolic; it was nasty’: Holmes à Court on News Corp, the Coalition’s PR team

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court speaks to David Hardaker about the teal independents, the Murdoch machine, and the state of Australian democracy.

David Hardaker

May 24, 2022

Simon Holmes à Court at the National Press Club (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch) — Simon Holmes à Court (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

There are many benefits to being raised the son of Australia's first billionaire: private schools; posh homes; networks. But the one you'd least expect is being exposed at an early age to a full-scale media assault.

As Simon Holmes à Court reflects, watching his father Robert Holmes à Court take a daily shellacking from the media for what he did as Australia's original corporate raider stood him in good stead when it came to taking on the combined force of the Morrison government and the Murdochs.

"I was at boarding school with the sons and daughters of the establishment with my father on the front page of the newspaper every day for a few years," he says. "So I long ago learnt how to have a thick skin from the media and literally not feel a thing seeing my picture on the front page of the paper.

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About the Author

David Hardaker

Investigations Editor @d_hardaker

David has an extensive career as a journalist and broadcaster, primarily at the ABC where he worked on flagship programs such as Four Corners, 7.30, Foreign Correspondent, AM and PM. He spent eight years reporting in the Middle East and can speak Arabic.