The former premier of WA, Mark McGowan, is tipped as a potential appointee to the Southern Cross Media board, following a merger with Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media.
Southern Cross, which also owns The West Australian newspaper and the Triple M and Hit commercial radio networks, is expanding its board in line with a charter adopted after it acquired Seven West Media for $385 million in shares, effective from January this year.
Mr McGowan's relationship with Kerry Stokes was examined during his 2022 defamation battle with coal billionaire Clive Palmer, which surfaced a series of text exchanges between the then-premier and the mining and media mogul.
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He was a sometime political ally of billionaire Kerry Stokes which is chaired by his son Ryan. Southern Cross is expanding its board in line with a charter adopted after it acquired Seven West Media for $385 million in shares, effective from January this year.
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The former premier of WA, Mark McGowan, is tipped as a potential appointee to the Southern Cross Media board, following a merger with Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media.
If appointed to a casual vacancy, Mr McGowan would face election at Southern Cross Media's annual general meeting, due in November.
If successful, Mr McGowan will join a handful of political leaders who have accepted board seats on listed media companies, including former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett and former prime minister Tony Abbott, who joined the board of the Murdochs' Fox Corporation in the US.
Southern Cross, which also owns The West Australian newspaper and the Triple M and Hit commercial radio networks, is expanding its board in line with a charter adopted after it acquired Seven West Media for $385 million in shares, effective from January this year.
Kerry Stokes conglomerate Seven Group Holdings emerged with a 20 per cent minority stake in Southern Cross, which it lifted to 23 per cent via another Stokes' affiliated entity after six months as is allowed under the so-called creep provisions in the corporate takeover laws.
Mr McGowan's relationship with Kerry Stokes was examined during his 2022 defamation battle with coal billionaire Clive Palmer, which surfaced a series of text exchanges between the then-premier and the mining and media mogul.
The Federal Court heard Mr McGowan sent Mr Stokes a text message in August 2020 flagging the introduction of legislation that would prevent Mr Palmer pursuing commercial arbitration damages against the state for up to $30 billion over a historical mine tenement agreement, and promising to "call to discuss".
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