Andrew Butcher is an Australian businessman, former spokesperson for

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

, accomplished race car driver, and partner in corporate advisory firm and political

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

, Bespoke Approach.

Career

Butcher became

's long term primary spokesperson after he accepted a position as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His career in the media had begun with a job as a

copyboy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

at the ''Melbourne Sun'', from which he later emerged a journalist. Butcher worked from

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

as a North Asia correspondent, from New York as a business correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', and from

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

as chief political reporter for the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

''. He was the executive director of communications and media relations at

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

, prior to establishing his own businesses, Butcher & Co, and later Bespoke Approach. In the latter venture, Butcher has worked closely with former Australian politicians

Nick Bolkus Nick Bolkus (born 17 July 1950) is a former Australian Labor Party politician. He was a member of the Senate from July 1981 to June 2005, representing the state of South Australia. Early career Bolkus was born in Adelaide and educated at Adela ...

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...

and Kevin Foley as a corporate advisor. Butcher is a director of the Australian American Association, and continues to provide occasional comment to the media on the affairs of Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation. In March 2014, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' revealed that Butcher was being paid $600 an hour by the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

to repair its damaged relationship with the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

and stem criticism from News Corporation, which attracted further commentary from opinion-writer

Andrew Bolt Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian conservative social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succ ...

. Butcher and his wife, Sara James, worked with other families in Australia to found Genetic Epilepsy Team Australia, which raises awareness through an annual conference. Butcher and James also founded KCNQ2 Cure. Since 2015, they have put together the annual KCNQ2 Cure New Horizons in Science Dinner to celebrate world-leading scientists and raise money for a cure. Butcher's commitment to these causes extends to another passion - the race track. He drives a

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mod ...

, complete with Genetic Epilepsy signage, winning races at Bathurst and on the

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, Victoria, Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1952. Along with The Bend Motorsport P ...

while raising funds and awareness to help find new treatments and a cure genetic epilepsy.

Personal life

Butcher is from Muckleford, near Castlemaine in country

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. His partner is American journalist, Sara James and the couple have two children. On his friendship with Rupert Murdoch, Butcher told ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...

'' that he "got along famously with Rupert. I was lucky enough to not be in awe of him. I found him to be very Australian." Butcher is a lifelong member of the Muckleford Cricket Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Andrew Australian businesspeople News Corporation people Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Australian lobbyists Year of birth missing (living people)