Punters Politics

This week, we break down New South Wales police's push for powers to empty your entire phone, texts, photos, location data, the lot, during any random stop without a warrant, using Israeli spyware from Cellebrite that police have already used over 30,000 times since 2022 despite telling a parliamentary inquiry they've never used it for surveillance. We score this week's Political Manoeuvres: Angus Taylor dodging fiery questions about his name surfacing in the NSW ICAC's Liberal Party donations inquiry with pure grammatical judo (9/10), and Chris Minns swooping in to rescue a floundering Anthony Albanese from a press pack obsessed with a gift of melons instead of actual policy (9/10 for the save). We also get into the AI-generated real estate photos catfishing home buyers with bedrooms that physically couldn't fit the bed pictured in them, and the good and bad news on bulk billing: up to 84 in 100 GP visits are now free nationally, except investment funds are quietly buying up the clinics.

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This week, we break down how a Chicago-based private equity firm running Australia's JobSeeker system pocketed $3.3 billion in revenue, paid just 2.14% tax, and still found $45.9 million to hand shareholders in a year it claimed a $179 million loss, all while Labor sat on its own 2023 inquiry's findings for three years and did nothing about it. We get into how NSW's ICAC is publicly unpicking an alleged secret takeover of the state Liberal Party by a property developer who's now on the run in Beirut with a warrant out for his arrest, why Gina Reinhardt is suing the ABC over a satire sketch while nobody in the corporate media mentions the word "satire," and Konrad's new plan to start a Punters Dark Money Ultimatum to make Albo finally fear us on the gas tax. Plus: a run-in with Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy on a plane, and Andrew Charlton agrees to come on the pod to answer for himself.

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00:00 Welcome Back & The Foreign Bludgers Rorting JobSeeker
01:57 Gina Sues the ABC: Beauty Pageant Politics We're Not Wasting Time On
09:47 Punter Times: The Chicago Bludgers Taking $2.1 Billion From JobSeeker
11:35 The Privatization Scam: How We Pay More For Worse Service
16:16 Who's To Blame? Johnny Howard Started It, But Labor Knew
17:32 Labor's Tiny Steps: Three Years Of Knowing & Still No Real Fix
23:25 The Real Dole Bludgers: Terry Pays More Tax Than These Corporations
24:39 Pep Up The Punts: NSW ICAC Takes Down Dodgy Property Developers
28:12 Story Time: Conrad Meets Pat Conroy On A Plane
33:21 The Dark Money Quest: Making Politicians Fear Punters
38:34 Shoot The Shit: YouTube Algorithm Woes & Sauce Bottle Admin
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This week, we break down three massive stories the corporate media barely wants you to connect: why Prime Minister Albanese is dodging questions about attending a dodgy billionaire's fundraising dinner hosted by a 25 year old whose dad is under investigation for allegedly funneling money from China, how Woodside just pocketed a $6 billion windfall this quarter from the Iran war while paying zero extra tax on those war profits because Albo bravely refused to tax the gas, and why Pauline Hanson floating around Sicily with Gina Reinhart is somehow less corrupt than the Prime Minister secretly meeting with property billionaires and former bank CEOs at Point Piper mansions. We get into why oil and gas giants are becoming Australia's biggest winners from war while punters cover the difference, how a 30% revenue jump for Woodside means $18 billion in untaxed export revenue that could have funded your healthcare or childcare but won't because existing contracts are sacred, and why the exact same Prime Minister who calls out Gina Reinhart's One Nation is running Anthony Pratt's Labor Party while attending private dinners he refuses to discuss with alleged money launderers and former regulators.

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This week, Punter Konrad brings you two massive ideas Australia could implement right now that would make everyone's lives better, cheaper, and fairer, but probably won't happen because the corporate lobbyists and media machine will do everything they can to stop it. We break down why legendary finance journalist Alan Kohler thinks nationalising childcare is the only way to fix the broken system where we subsidise private profits while parents pay exorbitant fees for lower quality care, how economist Cameron Murray explains why a variable royalty on gas that scales with the market price would lock in billions during booms without letting the lobbyists unwind it during busts, and why both of these solutions are common sense until the corporate media gets their filthy mitts on them and turns them into culture war fights to protect billionaire profits over punter wellbeing.

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This week, we sit down with legendary Australian journalist Ray Martin for a raw, unfiltered conversation about media, power, and whether everyday punters can actually change anything. We break down why corporate media is consolidating while trust is collapsing, how billionaires use newspapers to protect their real businesses, whether the ABC is truly independent or just responding to Murdoch's agenda, and why Ray thinks social media might be better than the old system despite AI and disinformation running rampant. We get into why politicians still suck up to Murdoch even when he attacks them, how gas companies use scare tactics to protect their rip off contracts, whether Aussies are too afraid to challenge authority despite hating tall poppies, and why Ray's advice after 60 years in journalism comes down to three words: have a go.

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