In an informal discussion with Mr. Black, Conrad Black, I met him for the first time at a dinner and we obviously spoke about Fairfax as people who were involved in the media tend to do. He said he was interested or or words to that effect, and I said well you know if the time comes and we all get together, let's look at it.

I think some people may have implied that while Mr. Black may not intend to exercise any control over the Turang bid, his 20% shareholding would give him sufficient influence to, in fact, control the company, because he's the intellectual person behind the running of those properties.

I am telling you there is no arrangement and I'm sick of telling people there is no arrangement that is the situation there is no arrangement there is no agreement I am not in a positional what of course formal or informal implied or anything else.

I have decided I want to remain in television and I accept and I have accepted from day one that you cannot control television and newspapers and I have accepted that and I have made my decision my decision was to stay in news in television and I do not have any agreements with anyone that contravenes the law.

In reality, it's not going to happen, but hypothetically, if you have 15% and Mr. Black has 20% and there is a wide dispersal of shares among the rest of the shareholders, you start off in advance of anybody else who seeks to control the company.

The real role is to look at the adequacy or not of the laws that apply. Now have you views about the associate-type role that I think are absurd, so you think they should be removed from the Act?

I am saying to you, there will be no pilfering of the funds of the company, that's what I'm saying to you. You have said just a while ago, what about the surplus in those funds? No part, no part whatsoever, that covers the principal, the surplus, everything. No part whatsoever

I don't own a newspaper anywhere in Australia, how there can be any suggestion that me buying into a newspaper in in a 15% capacity uh in a company which I'm going to have less say than most people in uh and by that I mean less say than most shareholders

Magazines are a form of print media that are commonly seen as part of the newspaper world. I don't accept that magazines are a form of print media that's commonly seen as part of the newspaper world. No, I don't accept that.

We have to be aware of the fact that in the world today there is an enormous shortage of capital and the whole world is trying to encourage money to be brought into this country.

Regardless of who you sell it to, and you don't worry about AAP and the uh any of the access to newsprint or any other the facets supply all those all those Agreements are still in place with Fairfax, so that whoever owns Fairfax has to all of those have access to all those things they're contractual up a period of time.

I think that's the position is it there's no doubt about that but I think the misunderstanding which arises there is Mr Telly was a seller Mr Telly came to me to sell the West Australian and it was in his interest to turn around and say to me that Mr Murdoch was a keen seeker of buying the West Australian

I mean this is not a great deep dark secret what I'm saying to you is he's not a player and he's not a player because he has absolutely no chance of getting through the necessary regulations to be a player...

I think what you're saying to me is that there's a whole lot of people who have come in here with a vested interest and have put through it a four-story which says You must be against Packer...

What's more the laws of this country everywhere you go as a parliament you turn around and say well we're not going to let you control this we're going to restrict you to 15% and that's what you keep saying in every other Act fine...

There's no question there's no question you have to decide whether I'm a liar or whether I'm not there's absolutely no question in my mind that you have complied absolutely with the law in the structure of the tirin bid your bid is below 15% that's all it's asked of you...

He is making a submission of 15% because it's under the it's under the foreign investment review board and he will probably go back to the foreign investment review board because he doesn't want to make a conditional submission and so I'd like to go to 20 and they at that point in time have the right to say yes or no...

I'm not on trial here, no, and I know that, but I'm just trying to make it clear that you're not asking me to accept something. I've said it so many times now, people: I haven't committed an offense, no.

Newspapers and magazines are very different things, and to lump them together is an absolute nonsense.

I believe proprietors have the right and the responsibility to see that their newspapers are good and accurate and fair and balanced.

I was asked in an interview for the bulletin whether I approved of an article that appeared in the bulletin, and I said no, I don't approve of it at all.

I think a proprietor has the right to intervene, I don't happen to do it but that doesn't mean I don't have the right to do it no I'm not questioning your right, I'm saying as I rightly understood that you were putting to the chairman that you don't believe a proprietor should intervene.

I may have 20% I may have 15% I would like to go I would have liked to have been on the board and had some say in the matter but I don't really want to run it but if Conrad Black doesn't live up to expectations he'll get replaced

I don't think a and I are in the event I yeah the suggestion I'm making I suppose is that they they're suggesting that in some way foreign ownership is evil therefore they should be favored

I bought back Channel 9 it was restrictions on foreign media ownership which were reinforced by the government which in fact assisted you in the purchase of that assisted me well you you you start off assuming I wanted it back I sold it to get rid of it I wouldn't have to sit here and listen to this bloody broadcasting argument if I didn't have it some I someone twisted your arm to buy it

I'm back there now I've got it I've spent a year at it it's going very well it's a good station it's got good management it's got good people I don't have to do so much work on it any it's fine but I you know I'm not contemplating selling it but please don't misunderstand why I took it back I took it back cuz I had money in there which was going Bank when I took it back

I don't estimate anything what do you think then is the I don't think about it you mean you're not prepared to answer questions on this subject I've already given you the answer on this subject I've told you that I pay whatever tax I'm required to play under the law not a penny more not a penny less and the suggestion that I'm trying to evade tax which is what you're putting forward I find highly offensive and I don't intend to cooperate with you in the blackening of my character

I think very good uh that will come about because at the moment you have three or four Windows you've got a window which is a film which starts in the cinema it then goes to a video shop you know 6 months later it then goes to pay television and then it will go to free television there won't be one extra movie made because you've got introduced pay television between free television and the video shop