{"id":899829,"date":"2026-09-21T07:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/899829\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T07:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T07:48:14","slug":"who-is-siobhan-mckenna-the-irreplaceable-former-murdoch-aide-given-a-top-diplomatic-posting-australian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/899829\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Siobhan McKenna? The \u2018irreplaceable\u2019 former Murdoch aide given a top diplomatic posting | Australian politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former News Corp executive Siobhan McKenna will be Australia\u2019s next consul general to New York in a surprise appointment given her background as a key strategist and trusted \u201cright hand\u201d to Lachlan Murdoch<\/a>, a vocal Labor critic.<\/p>\n

The diplomatic posting in Donald Trump\u2019s home town places one of Australia\u2019s most influential media insiders and corporate leaders into a city where trade and conservative political networks intersect.<\/p>\n

Peter Cox, a veteran media analyst, says the choice is about as far from appointing a traditional Labor stalwart as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe appointment of Lachlan\u2019s \u2018right-hand person\u2019 will come as a surprise to many, but it would not have been made unless there\u2019s a good relationship there with the government,\u201d says Cox.<\/p>\n

While McKenna is best known for her long association with News Corp, Labor governments have previously elevated her into politically sensitive roles, which included chairing the national broadband enterprise, NBN Co, and currently Australia Post.<\/p>\n

The consul general role is designed to promote Australia\u2019s economic interests in major global centres, where finance and politics often overlap. The position traditionally supports the broader strategy marked out by an ambassador.<\/p>\n

Project Murdoch<\/p>\n

The appointment marks a significant pivot for McKenna, who formerly headed News Corp\u2019s broadcasting division overseeing Foxtel<\/a> and Sky News Australia (now News24).<\/p>\n

US court documents recently revealed her central role in a contentious plan to amend a Murdoch family trust<\/a> and give Lachlan sole control over the Fox and News Corp media empire, without interference from his siblings, in order to retain its highly conservative voice.<\/p>\n

News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch (left) pictured with prime minister Anthony Albanese in 2024. Photograph: Dean Lewins\/AAP<\/p>\n

A Nevada judicial officer said in 2024 that the plan, known as Project Family Harmony, was an \u201cattempt to stack the deck in Lachlan Murdoch\u2019s favour after Rupert Murdoch\u2019s passing so that his succession would be immutable\u201d.<\/p>\n

The probate commissioner, Edmund Gorman, said \u201cthe evidence shows that Project Family Harmony had its origins with Siobhan McKenna and Lachlan Murdoch in the middle of 2023, before Rupert Murdoch was brought into the plan later that year\u201d.<\/p>\n

The plan was ultimately unsuccessful, and the bitter legal battle involving Rupert Murdoch\u2019s heirs only ended when a financial deal was reached in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McKenna was contacted for comment on Monday. She is due to start in the new role early in 2027.<\/p>\n

\u2018Transformational force\u2019<\/p>\n

McKenna left News Corp late last year after two decades with the conglomerate, and shortly after News Corp sold its controlling stake in Foxtel.<\/p>\n

The News Corp global chief executive Robert Thomson made it clear that McKenna\u2019s departure was entirely her own choice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer decision, as it is her decision, is essentially epochal as Siobhan has been a transformational force during her years with News Corp,\u201d Thomson told staff in an email in October 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018visionary\u2019 is often abused, but not in Siobhan\u2019s case, as her ability to perceive the future from the haze-shrouded shapes on the horizon is nonpareil. She is irreplaceable.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenna has kept a remarkably low public profile for such a prominent figure, and is rarely profiled, despite boasting a resume that includes board roles at Woolworths and the television network Ten.<\/p>\n

The 54-year-old has also served as a commissioner at the Australian Productivity Commission.<\/p>\n

During a press conference announcing McKenna\u2019s appointment, Anthony Albanese<\/a> was asked whether he had sought assurances she wouldn\u2019t \u201ccontinue to lobby or deal with Mr Murdoch in advancing business interests\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSiobhan McKenna is a professional, and she will do an outstanding job representing Australia and the Australian government here in New York,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the fact that she has experience in both the private sector and the public sector is a very good thing. I\u2019m someone who supports people being appointed on merit. Siobhan McKenna has been appointed on merit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former News Corp executive Siobhan McKenna will be Australia\u2019s next consul general to New York in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":899830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-899829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=899829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/899829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=899829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=899829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=899829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}