Exposing Australia's 'Cash for Access' Political Fundraisers

O punters, did you know that our politicians here in Australia are for sale? Political parties right now are

pimping out your politicians to the highest bidder for money. >> 80% of Australians say that this needs

to stop. >> Almost seven out of 10 of we regular Aussie punters call it for what it is,

outright corruption. They call it cash for access. And it's all perfectly legal. Punters, if you're wondering why

housing never gets fixed, your wages never keep going up, and why nothing ever changes no matter who you vote for,

this is it. Naturally, I just had a question. Could we do this? Could we, you and me, could we run our own dinner

and sell access to our own politicians in order to make money? Well, there's only one way to find out.

[cheering] >> We are So close to the goal [music] of $75,000.

Anonymous donor has got there's another lobbyist being [music] hotel right now. Okay.

Regular bunch of cash [music] in politics. Let's get lobbying. Cash for access. I know it sounds like a

conspiracy theory until you realize that it's literally how Australian politics works or doesn't work for you punters.

It will not shock you to hear that both major parties do it using their own entities. Labour call theirs the Federal

Labor Business Forum and the Liberals have the Australian Business Network and the Millennium Forum or is it now called

the Bunerai Proprietary Limited or the Federal Forum? Sorry. They've changed their name a few times because they've

been under investigation for taking money from the literal mafia. >> Bing, you blow their brains all over

your nice cyber league suit. >> Come in. >> Yes. One of the Liberal Party's top

fundraising bodies once accepted money linked to the Italian mafia in exchange for access to your politicians. If you

have cash, you can buy access. Two different political parties, same business model, same corporate donors

paying for access to whoever is in power and whoever can rig the rules to make them rich. And when I say pay, I mean

pay. The Labor Business Forum charges up to $110,000 per year just for membership. That's

before you even step into the room. Once you're in, you still have to buy tickets to the dinners anywhere from $4,000 to

$15,000 per seat. All for the chance to sit next to a minister or prime minister >> and casually pitch your agenda between

entree and dessert. Now, given this video is all about me having my own political event, selling access to my

own politicians to raise money, I needed to know where all this stuff actually happens. And it turns out it's the QT

Hotel in CRA. It's hosted so many political fundraising and lobbyist dinners that the foyer literally has a

political wall of power. portraits from former prime ministers staring down at you as you walk towards the private

dining rooms you paid to access. So if we were going to have our own cash for access fundraiser, this was the only

place to do it. Same venue, same dining room, same menu. Now we had the place. All we needed was the product, the

politicians. The whole reason people pay to come to these things, the more powerful the politician, the more money

you can charge. So naturally, I started at the top and worked my way down the list. I tried sending emails. I tried

DMs. Nothing. Obo, I know you don't follow me, but maybe enough punters will share this so that you see it. I know I

couldn't convince you to come to the punters politics political fundraising gala dinner brought to you by Heaps

Normal. But maybe these couple of legendary Aussie punters could help you change your mind.

>> Good top dog Anthony. >> Anthony, >> it is Nikki Webster here. What do you

think? >> Your good friend wanted to jump on here and say how much they care about you and

they really want you to come to dinner. >> I know you don't feel comfortable about it, but suck it up. I know Gina and

Robert. Yeah, maybe they're not going, but doesn't matter. >> Maybe a bit of Strawberry Kisses

karaoke. >> The punters need you. >> Come on, mate. Be there for the boys.

You got to get around the boys, mate. >> No luck with Australia's most powerful. So, I moved down the rankings. Tanya,

no. Jim, no. Susan, no. Ed Bragg, no. Tim Wilson. No. After weeks of reaching out, sliding into the DMs on Instagram,

nothing. So, I dusted off my lobbying pass. That's just a lanyard. And headed to CRA myself. Hunters, 1 and 1/2 hours

ago, I got a text saying, "If you can get to CRA by 700 p.m., you have a ticket to the Midwinter Ball with all

the politicians, all the journalists." So, I jumped in my car and I'm on route. I'm cutting at five. The Midwinter Ball.

It's where journalists, lobbyists, and ministers all squeeze into the same ballroom under the banner of charity

while every conversation quietly doubles as networking. And I had somehow managed to scam myself a ticket. Hunters, I have

no idea how much I'm spending on tolls. The drive is about 4 and 1/2 to 5 hours. I'm going to see how many selfies I can

get, who I can talk to. Maybe I'll smoo some journalists. I may have to suit up while I'm driving. No, that would be

illegal. Definitely would not be doing that at all. All right, punts. I have made it. I'm back, baby. Let's see if I

can look respectable. And if not, ah, well, >> don't mind me.

>> Tucks. Borrowed tux. Excellent. Excellent. >> Hunters, I'm giving you 12 formal vibes.

I went for I work in finance. Who do you reckon? Is this what a sellout looks like? All right, punts. Everyone's just

mingling around. Everyone's looking pretty good. Hopefully no one notices I'm not in a tux.

Already waiting to go in. Our lobbyist dinner is going to have to step it up big time.

[music] >> [singing] >> I want to acknowledge the guys who've

come all the way from Batuda to be with us tonight. >> For those of you who don't know me, I'm

Susan Lee and I'm the leader of the opposition. A recent Daily Telegraph poll found that out of 100 people, not a

single one would identify who I was. Suddenly, I'm at a table sponsored by a major infrastructure corporation,

sitting next to the national shadow minister for infrastructure, Bridget McKenzie. So, we start talking, have a

few drinks, have a few laughs, and she agrees to come to my dinner. Do you have any? Honestly, feeling like I was on a

bit of a hot streak after this, I hit up Elbow. Now, then Susan, she was also a no. And literally any politician I ran

into. And by the end of the night, I had scored almost 10 politicians to pimp out. I mean, sell access to completely

legally at my fundraising dinner. This punters honestly was my first real taste of how powerful face-to-face politics

is. You can send hundreds of emails, hundreds of DMs, and get absolutely nowhere. But share one conversation at a

dinner table, and suddenly you're in. This is how politics works. Punters. The punters politics political fundraising

gala dinner was starting to come together. But there was one small problem. After the venue booking, AV

live stream and setup, I was $28,000 in the hole. Uh, so I needed to sell some tickets to this event and fast.

But for how much? And would anyone actually pay me money to sit with the politicians I had convinced to come to

this event? Real fundraisers punters at these events, they go for $15,000 ahead. So, naturally, I did the exact same. 15

grand per ticket, but because we're mates, uh, I'll give you a discount code. I was handing out 99.5% discount

codes. Punters could choose when they went to puns.com whether to pay either 50 bucks or 100 bucks. You choose your

budget. And honestly, for a three course dinner and access to a politician, what a bloody bargain. Punters, good pricing,

tickets worth selling, and we were a few steps closer to covering costs. So, political parties use the money they

raise from these dinners to essentially buy their way back into power. You know, run attack ads, put up billboards, call

flutes, all of it. So, what were we going to use the money for if we managed to cover costs and

turn a profit? Well, if we're going to play their legally corrupt game called Australian politics, we're going to need

someone who knows how it's played. That's right. We need our very own lobbyist. A lobbyist not for

billionaires, not for foreign corporations, but for the punters like us getting screwed by them. So now we

have the venue, we have a purpose, we have the politicians, but lobbyists are not cheap. So we are still going to need

more cash. When politicians need money, well, they go running hatinand to large foreign

multinational corporations, mostly gambling companies, banks, gas cartels. Yeah, you you get the idea. But I, for

some reason, I didn't think Woodside or Santos would sponsor an event exposing exactly how they influence our

politicians into giving them billions in taxpayer subsidies. So, I put the call out to local independent Aussie

businesses. And I'll admit, punters, I sold out. What's up, boy? Mom, what's for dinner?

Does anyone know CPR? I [music] turned to the solar lighting specialists at Black Frog Solar. I should have gone to

Whipsmart, Funky Eisening, Bondi, Cole Med Group, the affordable [music] housing action network. Authentic

Kombucha, brewed for everyday Australians. I even managed to lock in a headline

sponsor. He's normal. >> [snorts] >> Because buying cash to access your

politicians, it's just he's bloody normal. And honestly, I think I did a pretty

bloody good job marketing these BS. >> Thanks, Conrad, for actually bringing it into the public forum and and allowing

everyday punters to have access to politicians through a fancy dinner. It's not just heaps normal. It's actually

super normal that major parties do this. And it's actually super normal that ministers have sitdowns with

corporations with individuals uh who are seeking to influence power. >> Yeah, that right there punders is a

politician accidentally endorsing my headline sponsor. Cheers. Venue politicians sponsor. So far so

good. But there was one more problem. Nobody was watching. Honestly, the whole purpose of this event is to draw

attention to this legalized form of corruption so that everyone sees exactly how the system is rigged against them. I

want regular punters to see with their own eyes that this is why their politicians do not work for them. And if

we fix this, we fix Australian politics for good. So, we needed to get the media's attention. Something that they

couldn't ignore. star power and maybe some journalistic integrity because if you're going to confront corruption, you

may as well have the face of the bachelor doing it. Asha, will you accept this rose and host the

[music] punters politics political fundraiser brought to you by sponsor pending? Am I getting paid?

>> The position was advertised as volunteer. Um, >> I'll do it for free.

>> What? And to sprinkle a bit of journalistic integrity in there, XABC jouro Josh Sheps quickwitted and

brutally honest. >> Bridget, why what are you doing here? [laughter]

>> And by this point here, the tickets were sold out. Press releases were sent and it was showtime.

>> Tonight, Osha Gunsburg, the Osha Gunsburg is hosting the Pun Politics political fundraiser brought to you by

Heaps Normal. How you feeling tonight? >> Well, I'm feeling pretty good. Um, this suit has been provided to us by an

anonymous benefactor and we're under no obligation to reveal who they are. The red carpet has been rolled out. All the

regular punters have come to gain special access to their politicians in the cheapest possible way to look rich

they can. Let's get lobbying. And by that I mean let's get lobbying. >> People were lining up champing at the

bit to get in. So pretty exciting. >> I'm [music] impressed. Red carpets are rolled out. Regular punters are ready to

lobby politicians just like corporations do, just like lobbyists do. They have spent money to get special access to

politicians. [music] So, I hope that tonight I can give them special access to politicians.

>> I've just received word that an anonymous donor has gotten in touch and will match dollar for dollar every

dollar raised tonight up to $25,000. That's right. We are so close to the goal of $75,000.

This is regular punting cash powering politics. Rugby league was invented in 1895 when

the rugby establishment turned their noses up at the idea of paying players couldn't afford to take time off work to

go on the international tours. The rugby union said, and I quote, "If men couldn't afford to play, they shouldn't

play at all." So, did the leagueies get upset? No, they did not. They took their ball with them on the boat to Australia,

they changed the game completely and less than 72 hours ago, absolutely panced our colonial overlords, beating

them at their own game, retaining the ashes with a two- win demolition. And that is what we're here to do tonight.

To raise money that will go to directly funding a dedicated, experienced political lobbyist to beat them at their

own game. That is why we're here. What counts as a lobbyist? >> There's 17 million Aussie voters and

there's only 2 and a half thousand clients on the lobbyist register. So, they're a persecuted minority. Okay?

They're the little guy. Good lobbyists have to be on a register, you know, like a pet or a sex offender.

Here at Punters Politics, we looked [music] at this incredible system of legalized corruption of the Australian

political lobbying and we thought we got to get in on that. And that's what we are doing right now. [music] So, it's

great to see regular punters finally able to purchase access to their politicians, just like billionaires and

[music] gas executives who have spent many hours secretly lobbying our politicians in this very hotel room. Did

you did you guys hear? There's another lobbyist meeting happening in this hotel right now. Please welcome Anthony

Albani. Come on, give it up. You made it all the way from Parliament House here. Conrad,

I'm so glad that you finally had a little bit of understanding of real politique. Now, this award goes to

someone [music] very special, a man who threw on me a $360 billion submarine deal. But that $360 billion has done him

very well. It's got him a job at DY [music] NA Maritime, a leading weapons

investment company, I guess. Give a big warm welcome to Scott Morrison. >> I have always believed in miracles and

one of the greatest miracles of my life personally has been landing my dream job in my dream industry, [music]

weapons industry. I am so happy to be serving such dedicated war mongers. I'm I could not be happier. But you know, in

that same vein, I reject the award. Why? Because I did not apply for this job. You know who did apply for this job?

God. Wow. What a leadup to some footage of the event that you might have seen the live stream for already. But it

doesn't matter. Months of planning, begging, discount codes had led to this. The very first ever Punters Politics

political fundraiser brought to you by Heaps Normal. Cheers. hunters. Honestly, we had everything.

Red carpet, grand ball, photo booth, Instagrammers, journalists, politicians, at least nine of them, fiery

discussions, you got it. Free drinks. Once again, cheers. 220 [music] punters from all over Australia, Perth,

Melbourne, Brisbane, everywhere. All saying, "We are sick and [music] tired of lobbyists and corporations using cash

to buy access to our politicians. We think it is [music] corruption and politicians should stop it." And then it

was over. The next morning, we held a press conference inside Parliament House. I stood next to a very jacked

David PCO. I'm I'm bigger than I look, just standing next to here. It's fine. Like, it's an optical illusion. He's a

big boy. I'm also pretty big. And we stood there and faced at least 15 to 20 journalists all staying there. Surely,

never in Australian history has a regular punter like me sold access to politicians to raise money to employ a

lobbyist. Surely that's never happened before. and surely they would cover it. Nope. It just so happens that on the

same day, Barnaby Joyce fell over and the Nationals were having a cry about net zero again and that's what led the

news for the next week. All in all, ABC hack ran a short segment. The Camber Times wrote a few paragraphs and the

Sydney Morning Herald mentioned it somewhere in passing in an article I just can't find online somewhere.

Someone sent me a screenshot, but that was it. Corporate media, nothing. They did punters what they always do. They

ran distraction, dressed up as news. Because the truth is, they're not here to challenge power. They're part of it.

The same handful of corporations that own our media also bankroll our political parties. They lobby for their

own tax breaks, their own subsidies, and sell you the outrage that keeps everyone distracted. That is how the game stays

rigged. The headlines change, but the power never really does. And the closer we come to discussing the real problems,

finding real solutions, how legal corruption like this sits at the center of nearly every single issue we face in

Australia, the louder and more divisive the distractions from the media become. Keeping regular punters distracted and

divided is their goal. Maintaining the status quo is the mission. So after all of this, punters didn't work. We managed

to get millions of views on content related to this campaign, this stunt, whatever it was. We raised $75,000 from

over 1,500 regular punters like you. And now I'm in the hunt for an ex fossil fuel and ex tobacco or an ex gambling

lobbyist who wants to turn coat and come work for the good guys. We the punters. So even though corporate media ignored

this completely, the message is still getting out there piece by piece. Unfortunately, this message is still

slipping through the algorithms here. Thanks to punters like you who share it on social media. Thanks to the Patreon

punters that give me money to keep doing this sort of stuff. And thank you to the 220 regular punts that came from all

over the country to attend an event like this. Because punters like you are paying attention, more and more punters

are hearing about exactly what is going on. So, massive thanks to you, massive thanks to the punters over on Patreon,

massive thanks to the Aussie businesses who backed this mad idea. And so, please feel free to share this with a punter

who might not know just how scammed we're getting. This is not the end. Stay tuned for the next phase where we find a

lobbyist and send him into Parliament House. Punters, yes, I'm repeating myself, but you really are the reason

stunts like this can get cut through the corporate media algorithm and reach regular punters. So, if you want to

support what I'm doing, you can sign up and join the punters over on Patreon. You can head to punpies.com, pick

yourself up some merch, and if you want to bypass the corporate media algorithm, you can join the mailing list. Links in

the description below. punters. Thank you. Catch you in the next video. Powder the punters.

[music]