Punters Politics

In the aftermath of violence, everyone asks the same question: why?But what if the way we ask it — and the stories we tell next — decide whether it happens again?Why Australia Once Refused to Name Killers (And Why That’s Changing)In this episode, Konrad is joined by Dr Glynn Greensmith, senior lecturer in journalism at Curtin University, to unpack the uncomfortable truth about mass attacks, media coverage, and the hidden incentives shaping what we see, share, and believe. Drawing on decades of research into mass violence, journalism, and copycat behaviour, we explore why attention is often the real reward attackers seek — and how Australia once reduced harm by refusing to give it to them.We examine how 24-hour news, social media algorithms, and profit-driven media structures collide with public safety, why speculation masquerading as news makes us less informed, and what responsibility journalists, platforms, politicians — and ordinary people — actually carry in moments of crisis.Dr Glynn Greensmith https://www.smh.com.au/by/glynn-greensmith-p5369dBypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-up

Go to https://surfshark.com/punters or use code punters at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!This week, we expose the jobs-for-mates scandal the government tried to bury, watch David Pocock absolutely demolish ministers in Senate estimates with straight facts about Japan reselling our gas, and deliver a comprehensive punters audit on Cosplay Canavan that reveals exactly why you should never trust a word he says.The independent review Labor didn't want released just dropped, confirming the appointment system "looks like nepotism" and isn't fit for purpose—but instead of fixing it with actual laws, they're going with a vibes-based framework and rejecting cooling-off periods so they can keep hiring their mates immediately. Minister Katie Gallagher pulls the classic resume pad when grilled about giving away 50% of our gas exports royalty-free, while Tim Ayres dismisses Japan's billion-dollar gas resale scam as just "dinner party discussion."Plus, we break down why Matt Canavan deliberately confuses total investment with government spending to mislead punters on net zero costs, reveal his brother's 7% stake in a coal mine and executive role at Peabody Energy, and discuss how a Bachelor of Economics honours graduate who worked at KPMG somehow pretends he doesn’t understand basic economic concepts he's pushing.Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-upBuy Punters T-shirtsSupport We the Punters on PATREON What Punter are you? Take the Quiz!Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirtsBe a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyist

Go to https://surfshark.com/punters or use code punters at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!This week, Konrad recaps the TikTok Awards, Konrad’s admits his addication to social media platforms to make and bring on two politicians from different parties who actually agree on something: Australia's getting absolutely ripped off on gas.Politician Ed Husic (Labor backbencher and former minister) goes full punter mode calling out Japan for reselling our gas and making a billion dollars in profit, independent politician Nicolette Boele breaks down why three-year election cycles kill long-term planning, and we test both politicians' ability to redirect awkward Christmas dinner conversations away from politics using only their parliamentary maneuvering skills.Topics we spend no time on: Pauline Hanson's Burqa stunt and lunch with Barnaby, and Albo ties the knot at the Lodge while regular punters have to pay thousands for a wedding venue.Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-upBuy Punters T-shirtsSupport We the Punters on PATREON What Punter are you? Take the Quiz!Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirts

Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-upThis week, we expose whether Albo's quietly strangling Australia's science sector while claiming to be a "friend of science," reveal how Microsoft tried to scam 2.7 million Aussies with hidden price hikes until the ACCC stepped in, and watch Sussan Ley pull off an absolute masterclass in saving Littleproud from a train wreck press conference with the sleepy koala defense.Plus, the CSIRO returns $7 for every $1 invested but gets told that's not good enough value, we discover Australia spends $30 billion less on research than comparable countries while shipping our smart people overseas to invent stuff we then buy back at a premium, and Punter Jess alerts us to Microsoft's sneaky opt-out scam that jacked up subscription prices by 45%.Also: LinkedIn bros needed for lobbyist headhunting, Conrad's bringing cardboard cutouts to the TikTok Awards, and we're officially recruiting Australia's first punter-powered lobbyist with $75K in the bank and a clean conscience as the signing bonus.Go to https://surfshark.com/punters or use code punters at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Buy Punters T-shirtsSupport We the Punters on PATREON What Punter are you? Take the Quiz!Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirtsBe a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Go to https://surfshark.com/punters or use code punters at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!   Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-up This episode breaks down why the Liberal-National Net Zero backflip is just political theatre designed to distract punters while Labor continues the same gas cartel scams, plus we grade Albo's abysmal transparency record and watch Cosplay Canavan pull off a masterful question dodge that would make any surfy kid proud. Buy Punters T-shirts Support We the Punters on PATREON  What Punter are you? Take the Quiz! Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirts Be a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-up This week, we pull back the curtain on Canberra’s favourite game: cash-for-access.When political parties sell $15,000 dinners to billionaires, the punters decided to play along.We threw our own political fundraiser — real sponsors, real politicians, real access — and raised $75,000 to hire Australia’s first lobbyist for the people.But while the pollies showed up, the corporate media didn’t. Not one major outlet covered it.So we’ll show you what really happened, what it proved about our democracy, and what comes next for the Punters Lobbyist. Buy Punters T-shirts Support We the Punters on PATREON  What Punter are you? Take the Quiz! Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirts Be a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-up We ask whether Murdoch is deliberately tanking the Liberal Party to drag Labor right, unpack Pocock’s “sophisticated toddler” Senate tactic to expose the hidden jobs-for-mates report, and test Monique Ryan’s plan to crack open lobbying and ministerial diaries. Plus, our first punter-funded gala, a cheeky dis-endorsement for that Liberal ad, and Albo’s Joy Division tee that hijacked the week’s headlines. Buy Punters T-shirts Support We the Punters on PATREON  What Punter are you? Take the Quiz! Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirts Be a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-up We dissect Sky News' propaganda playbook that turned a diplomatic meeting into clickbait while Australia quietly agreed to mine cancer-causing minerals for American weapons, plus the energy news that'll actually make you feel better. Buy Punters T-shirts Support We the Punters on PATREON  What Punter are you? Take the Quiz! Buy Punters Stickers & T-shirts Be a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bypass the Algorithm, Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-up Punter Konrad and Punter James play the blame game to reveal exactly who's behind your biggest bills - from Adani dodging $400 million in Queensland courts to Santos secretly driving up your mortgage and energy costs, plus the phone company scam that's been stealing an extra month from you every year. Punter’s Politics Political Fundraiser Tickets: https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/punters-political-fundraising-dinnerBe a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyistSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sign up to the Punter Times Newsletter  https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/email-sign-upThis week, Konrad and James expose how foreign corporations like Shell made $127 billion in Australia while paying virtually zero tax, reveal the governments hidden gambling connections, and host the first-ever Puntermon Battle between two economists who can't agree whether mass immigration or property speculation is destroying Australia's housing market. Featuring - Economists Leith van Onselen & Matt Grudnoff  Punter’s Politics Political Fundraiser Tickets: https://www.punterspolitics.com/pages/punters-political-fundraising-dinnerBe a dark money funder to help hire a lobbyist for the punters: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyist Leith's Notes"The first chart in this article shows why demand side policies never work as they just feed higher home prices:" https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2025/05/australians-snookered-by-mega-mortgages/"Even if we changed NG and the CGT discount today it wouldn't do squat for the rental market as the volume of migration would continue to overwhelm supply, driving vacancy rates lower and rents higher. Sure, building public housing would help and is worthwhile. But that would cost many billions and would merely be taken up by new migrants (this is happening now in Melbourne). We simply cannot build enough homes or infrastructure to keep up with demand. We don't have the capacity. Therefore, the only solution is to go back to pre 2005 levels of migration and ensure that it is focused on skills the country actually needs. We need quality, not quantity. As long as policymakers continue to pump immigration, the rental and infrastructure crises will continue. Nothing can be done on the supply side in any reasonable timeframe to change this fact. Matt's Notes I claimed that over the last 10 years the population has increased by 16% but the number of dwellings has increased by 19%Population data comes from National, state and territory population. Click on the “Population and components of change – national” towards the bottom of the webpage. In the spreadsheet that downloads we are looking for “Estimated Resident Population (ERP) ;  Australia” (this is column L in the spreadsheet). 10 years comes from March 2015 to March 2025. The numbers are population in March 2015: 23,745,600. Population in March 2025: 27,536,900. The formular for calculating the percentage increase is (Mar-2025 – Mar-2015)/Mar-2015.Dwellings data comes from Total Value of Dwellings. Click on “Table 1. Total value of dwellings, all series” towards the bottom of the webpage. In the spreadsheet that downloads we are looking for “Number of residential dwellings; Australia” (this is Column AT in the spreadsheet). 10 years comes from the increase from March 2015 to March 2025. The numbers are dwellings in March 2015: 9,511,300. Dwellings in March 2025: 11,320,300.The quarterly dwellings data only goes back to Sep-2011. But the housing crisis really started in the early 2000s. So, to go back further I use census data. If you compare the 2001 census with the 2021 census (latest census), population has increased 33% and dwellings have increased 39%.Population and dwelling data for the 2001 census comes from 2022.0 – Census of Population and Housing: Classification Counts, Australia, 2001. In the downloads tab click on the first data cube “Australia Classification Counts 2001”.Click on the first spreadsheet called “Aust_Age.xls”. This has the population number at D110 in the spreadsheet. The population is 18,972,350.Click on the 14th spreadsheet is called “Aust_Dwelling Location.xls”. It has the dwelling number at B15 in the spreadsheet. The number of dwellings is 7,810,352.Population data for the 2021 census comes from Population; Census. At the bottom of the webpage click on “Data table for population data summary”. The population is 25,422,788 (D20 in Table 1 of the spreadsheet).Dwelling data for the 2021 census comes from Housing: Census. At the bottom of the webpage click on “Data table for Housing data summary”. The number of dwellings is 10,875,248 (J17 in Table 1 of the spreadsheet).You now have the population from both 2001 census (18,972,350) and the 2025 census (25,422,788). You also have the number of dwellings from the 2001 census (7,810,352) and the 2025 census (10,875,248).Rent and general inflation figures all come from the Consumer Price Index, Australia.I claimed over the last 10 years general inflation (CPI) had increased 33%, while rents had increased 24%.Both figures come from the bottom of the webpage at the CPI website linked above, called “Table 7. CPI: Group, Sub-group and Expenditure Class, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities”.The rent numbers come from “Index Numbers; Rents; Australia” (column BC in tab Data1). I actually compared Mar-2015 (109.2) to Jun-2025 (133.7). This gives a 24% increase. But to compare with the dwelling data I should have compared March-2015 (109.2) to Mar-2025 (133.7). This reduces the increase to 22%. But as I was arguing that rent prices hadn’t increased as much, this helps my point.The general inflation numbers come from the same spreadsheet as the rent numbers but are at “Index Numbers; All groups CPI; Australia” (column EC in tab Data1). Again, I compared Mar-2015 (106.8) to Jun-2025 (141.7) to get 33%. But I should have compared Mar-2015 (106.8) with Mar-2025 (140.7), which would give 32%.I also claimed that over 25 years general inflation (CPI) had increased 103%, while rents had increased 115%.These figures are from the same columns as the rent (BC in tab Data1) and all groups CPI (EC in tab Data1) data from above. Except instead of comparing 10 years, I went back to Mar-2000 (62.7 for Rent and 69.7 for CPI) and then compared this with Jun-2025 (135.0 for rent and 141.7 for CPI). Again, for consistency I should have compared them both with Mar-2025. This would have meant the general inflation increase would have been 102% (rather than 103%), and the rent increase would have been 113% (rather than 115%). This doesn’t make any difference to the points I was making.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.