Who knew that Rupert Murdoch is such a fan of Spotswood, the 1992 Australian movie that starred Anthony Hopkins, Ben Mendelsohn, Russell Crowe and Toni Collette?
The News Corp and 21st Century Fox chairman spoke affectionately about the film, which was scripted by Max Dann and Andrew Knight and directed by Mark Joffe, during his lecture at the Lowy Institute on Thursday night.
Murdoch recalled that the comedy/drama set in Melbourne in the 1960s featured Hopkins as an efficiency expert who’s hired by the owner of a struggling suburban moccasin factory.
Hopkins’ character plans to lay off surplus workers but falls in love with the people and finds a way to save the factory without letting go a single soul. Alwyn Kurts played the factory owner and Crowe was one of his salesman.
Murdoch used Spotswood in an analogy to highlight the vast differences in the world economies, particularly in Asia, of 1966 and today. “Australians no longer have to worry about people producing cheaper moccasins because of cheaper wages – Australians have to worry about someone in Beijing or Bangalore beating us with breakthrough drugs or intelligent robots,” he said in his speech at Sydney Town Hall.
He described the character of the moccasin factory owner as a “wonderful old [man] who is hopelessly – but charmingly –out of date,” evidently seeing no irony in the fact that some of his critics see him in a similar light.
“All around us, we face something this region has never had before: a wealthy, educated and globally competitive middle class of more than two billion people,” he said.
Murdoch acknowledged the challenges facing print publications but hailed the growth of mobile communications as a shot of a shot of adrenalin for News Corp.
“Now, each and every one of us can have our news and information when and where we want it,” he said. “For me, it’s right here in my pocket, on my iPhone, where I can get my Australian, my Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, and my personalized stock quotes, any time I want.
“That is a huge leap for an industry that once had to rely on trucks and news agents alone to deliver news to readers. The same opportunity for global growth is there for Australia, if we can make ourselves more nimble.”