@ABCNews, @BBCWorld & @FinancialReview all issued corrections. But today, Murdoch tried to assert a monopoly on truth. After they were caught in a great big falsehood, that my govt "unilaterally killed the Quad", they're now attacking people for pointing out their mistakes.
When did Australia actually withdraw from the Quad? Murdoch claims it was Feb 2008. We know from Wikileaks that Howard’s Govt notified the US & Japan in early July 2007. Surprise, surprise, Murdoch doesn’t want to talk about that.
Of course, Murdoch didn’t need Wikileaks to know what the Howard Govt was up to. In July 2007, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson toured China and India repeatedly announcing it. Here he is in Beijing on 9 July 2007.
Why did the Bush Govt also turn against the Quad? According to top Indian diplomat Shyam Saran, Bush wanted Chinese support to confront Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. No mention of this by Murdoch today. lowyinstitute.org/the-interprete…
Something else Murdoch ignores was the change of govt in Japan. Shinzo Abe stepped down in Sept 2007, & his successor Yasuo Fukuda was dead against the idea. According to Murdoch, my govt supposedly “unilaterally killed” the Quad five months later.
Indian PM Manmohan Singh was among the most wary, and was being pressured directly by the Chinese president over it. So in Jan 2008—a month before Murdoch says my Govt “unilaterally killed” the Quad—he pronounced it dead. outlookindia.com/newswire/story…
So was Australia’s drift from the Quad unilateral, as Murdoch says? Of course not. Here’s some of what I actually said at the time:
No foreign billionaire should have a monopoly on truth.
@Murdoch_RC
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