Michael West

Michael West Media

"There’s lawyers hanging around dying to sue me; waiting for me to slip up. But all that’s quite good fun. I like that adrenaline side of the game."

Michael West is an investigative journalist who focuses on the rising power of corporations over democracy. He is best known for investigations into multinational tax avoidance by some of the world’s biggest companies, and exposing the influence of corporations on government policy. After eight years as a columnist and investigative reporter with The Australian and a similar stretch at the Sydney Morning Herald as a journalist and editor, West founded Michael West Media, which investigates tax avoiders, financial markets and the banking and energy sectors. His website attracts more than half a million views a month.

Career Timeline

1989: West misses out on a cadetship at the Sydney Morning Herald but is employed as a cadet journalist by the Australian Financial Review. He is attracted to finance journalism, believing that finance and big business are society’s most elite and sophisticated avenues for scamming.

1991: The Sydney Morning Herald’s business desk hires West to cover the low-profile building products beat. He makes contacts with brokers and bankers and soon is breaking significant business stories. The Australian tries to entice him to join.

1996: West becomes a stockbroker. He says he was the world’s worst stockbroker because he was not greedy enough and a bit slow. The experience proves pivotal for his later career, as he witnesses how markets operate from the inside.

1998: West accepts an offer from The Australian to launch and write a daily satirical business column, Margin Call. He breaks numerous stock market stories, combining scoops and high sarcasm, particularly during the dotcom boom.

2005: The Australian is sued for defamation by Macquarie Bank for West’s investigation into the bank’s financial relationship with the Beaconsfield gold mine which collapsed killing a miner and trapping two others for two weeks. [The ACT Supreme Court dismissed Macquarie’s claim in 2009]. West wins a Walkley award for the story.

2008: West moves to Fairfax Media as a business columnist. He reluctantly accepts the job as the Sydney Morning Herald’s business editor. With the Global Financial Crisis, collapsing business is big news but sharply declining newspaper revenue and journalist redundancies place enormous pressure on staff.

2011: West returns to investigative reporting, breaking stories on multinational tax avoidance and exposing “gold-plating”, or over-investment by electricity companies in their networks, leading to a doubling in power prices.

2016: West is sacked by Fairfax. He says he was told that the company’s focus was not aligned with his skill set. He sees this as a favour and after a long surf trip launches Michael West Media.

2020: Michael West Media, which focuses on the way corporate power intersects with governments, now has more than half a million monthly views and also produces John Menadue’s Pearls & Irritations website. It is reader funded.

Awards

2005: Walkley award, business journalism