STEVE CANNANE, PRESENTER: Australian businessman Dick Smith has launched a swingeing attack on News Corp and its local boss, Kim Williams.

Mr Smith has labelled News Limited's campaign against proposed media reforms as hypocritical and accused the media giant of censoring criticism.

Mr Smith also says News Limited's stance that more media regulations would curtail freedom of speech was claptrap.

Recently Mr Williams has spoken out against any further regulation of the media in the wake of the Finkelstein Report and threatened a High Court challenge.

And Dick Smith is with us now.

Welcome to Lateline.

DICK SMITH, BUSINESSMAN: Thank you.

STEVE CANNANE: This letter to Kim Williams seemed to stem from a dispute you had about an ad you wanted to run in the Daily Telegraph. What happened?

DICK SMITH: Well it wasn't an ad, it was an announcement because the News Limited press just spruiks up growth all the time, but anyone with any common sense knows that an economic system that requires perpetual growth and the use of resources and energy is not sustainable, and I want to get that message out.

Now I prepared an announcement which talked about my Wilberforce Award, which is about growth, and said there's a $5,000 reward for any journalist who can get this mentioned in the Murdoch press.

Well the Murdoch press wouldn't accept the announcement, which I thought was just simply censoring it.

STEVE CANNANE: OK. In response they said in a statement, "Your original ad, quite aside from containing an unjustified shot at News, seemed to be encouraging a cash-for-comment type situation. We offered to publish a revised version, but Dick declined."

DICK SMITH: Yes, they said they'd publish the ad if it took any mention of the Murdoch press and the $5,000 reward out. First of all, it's not cash for comment - I wasn't selling anything. I was trying to get a message out that they should do is responsibly, and also ...

STEVE CANNANE: But you were offering journalists $5,000.

DICK SMITH: Well the $5,000 was never going to be paid in and I wanted to because no journalist would ever dare write in the Murdoch press that you can't have perpetual growth. You have got to understand it's a religion with them, sending more and more money to New York and nobody - they self-censor - no-one is allowed to say the truth.

STEVE CANNANE: OK. Now you've dared News Limited for a fee to slip a copy of a magazine that you've published into all of their papers. Now you see this as a test of freedom of speech. If they take your publication, will that prove you wrong?

DICK SMITH: Oh, well, actually, no, no, it'll prove me correct in saying that they were taking the money, which is absolutely true.

What I'm concerned about: I'm printing 2.4 million copies of a magazine that promotes Dick Smith Foods, my food company that helps Aussie farmers, and also talks about some of the issues that the media, not only the Murdoch media, but the Fairfax Media, never touch.

Now already the Fairfax Media said they'll run the magazine. I'm concerned that the Murdoch media won't. Number one, it criticises them a little bit, and they don't like any criticism, and secondly, it actually says that you can't have perpetual growth.

So I'm really testing them - will they take my magazine? Of course by the way I pay for it - they make money out of it.

STEVE CANNANE: So if they do publish the magazine, will that prove that you're wrong: that they're into censoring what you've got to say?

DICK SMITH: Oh, no, no, they censor everything. Let me explain to you: when I talk to politicians - because at the moment Kim Williams is saying, "Isn't this terrible; we're oging to get censorship with the Government."

When I talk to politicians and say to them, "Why don't you mention the fact that we can't have perpetual growth, they say, "Dick, what you're talking about is factual, but I'd be crucified by the Murdoch press if I said that."

So you have this organisation which is immensely powerful that our politicians are frightened of. That's a problem with free speech. Kim Williams should admit to that.

STEVE CANNANE: OK. On the one hand you're saying that you're having a go at News for running opposing views on climate change; on the other hand you say that their journalists self-censor and write what Rupert Murdoch wants them to. But if the journalists write what the boss wants, aren't they all going to back the science behind man-made climate change ...

DICK SMITH: No, no ...

STEVE CANNANE: ... because Rupert Murdoch wants to make News Limited carbon neutral? He agrees with the mainstream science on climate change.

DICK SMITH: Absolutely, and this is the point I'm making. But when it comes to Fox News, Rupert has worked out that his audience are disbelievers. And so what he does, he spruiks on Fox News that it's all a sham, that it doesn't exist, so he gets more viewers and more advertising money.

Basically with the Murdoch press what you've got to understand is that it's all about sending more money to New York. So all they do is basically propagate which meets the prejudices of the people who are watching to get the maximum number of buyers of their newspapers and viewers.

Now, I don't mind that; that's capitalism. It's about making more money. But Kim Williams shouldn't say, "Oh, no, we've got something higher. We're about freedom of the press." No, he's about making more money to send to the USA.

STEVE CANNANE: But we want media organisations to make money, don't we?

DICK SMITH: Absolutely.

STEVE CANNANE: We need media organisations, we need newspapers at the moment. There's nothing wrong with them making a buck and going to their commercial interests, is there?

DICK SMITH: Absolutely. But don't kid yourself that you have any other motive, because the motive of News Limited - there's a board in America, and if Kim Williams wanted to do one thing - let's say he was going to do something that was in the interests of Australia, but not in the interests of making more profits, they'd say sack him.

They'd say, "What's this bloke over in Australia, this do-gooder for? We don't want him. We want more profits." They recently made 47 per cent increase in profit in the last quarter. That just shows how incredibly astute and ruthless they are.

STEVE CANNANE: OK. Last year you said you were too gutless to feature in an advertising campaign to support the carbon tax because you were afraid that you would be criticised by Rupert Murdoch's newspapers. What's changed?

DICK SMITH: I'd be attacked by them like mad. This is not about the carbon tax. This is about growth, which I think is a fundamental issue. And it's something I've been on about many years.

STEVE CANNANE: OK. But you said you were too gutless back then. Now you're really taking them on.

DICK SMITH: Maybe I've got some guts. No, look, I think they're decent people there. I think they can see the type of view I have is important.

If I was a Murdoch journalist I wouldn't be game to deny growth because they're all about making more profits. But I'd be quite happy if someone like Dick Smith came along and said, "Look, this particular growth we've got now is impossible, it's destroying our way of life, it's extreme capitalism. You only have to look all around you as things are getting worse."

STEVE CANNANE: Dick Smith, thanks very much for coming in.

DICK SMITH: Thank you.

STEVE CANNANE: And News Limited CEO Kim Williams was unavailable tonight, but a News Limited spokesman told us that contrary to his accusations of censorship, Dick's views are well known to our readers given we publish his articles and opinions regularly, and the last being an op-ed in The Australian on April 16th this year.