Bridget Griffen-Foley THE PRESS PROPRIETOR AND THE POLITICIAN: SIR FRANK PACKER AND SIR ROBERT MENZIES ABSlRACT This (Irticie surveys Ihe relationship be/ween Alis/ra/iclI/'s 10l1gesl serving pdme miniSler, Sir Robert Menzies, and Ihe controversial media proprietor Sir Fronk Packer. It begins by briefly discussing the progressive liberalism Ihol characterised fhe Daily and Sunday Telegraphs in the 1930$ and 1940s. II/hen considers Packer'sjlinotiolls wilh the affairs a/the United Auslralia Porty and the Liberal Parry in the /940s, and the Wlly in which Menzies, as leader of jhe opposition. viewed the press proprietor. The main parI oj the article explores {he value lhal Jhe prime minisler and the Liberal Party placed 011 (he support oflhe Pucker media oUflels, and Ihe form Ihol this support look. The or/ide goes some way to describing how media tycoons and politicol correspondents interacted with politicians in the days before preS,f relellses lind professiOlUI/ lobbyists became highly sophisticated news managemelll devices_ In April 1971, Australia's oldest surviving newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, published a special supplementto mark its 140th anniversary (19 April 1971). This piece of self-congratulation did not go unnoticed by the Sydney Morning Herald's principal rival, the Daily Telegraph. Even though it was to be another eight years before the Telegraph celebrated its IOOth anniversary, it ran an article entitled 'Telegraph nears century'. This potted history was accompanied by an editorial summarising 'What wc stand for' (24 April 1971). It said, in part: We are proud that we call a spade a spade; that we will not kowtow to unions or advertisers merely to preserve hannony and revenue; that we actively support a political party devoted to private enterprise in which we believe; that we believe in a fair day's pay for a fair day's work; that we believe we must support America in its troubles if America is going to support us in ours ... We at the Telegraph also believe Ihal we wield quite a bit of influence- possibly more than any other paper in Australia. It is the function of a newspaper not only to report the news fairly and impartially but also to express editorial views, The Telegraph has never hesitated to do so. A year earlier, Frank Packer had agreed to be interviewed by the ABC. Asked to nominate Australia's greatest prime minister, Packer had replied, without hesitation, 'Sir Robert Menzies'. When pressed about his relationship wilh Menzies, Packer had commented, rather defensively: No. 99 - May 2001 23