Albo's Secret Windfall Tax Plan, The Blame Game on Petrol Prices + It's Not Just You. Our Politicians Are Actually Getting Worse + The Punters Lobbyist
Albo's Secret Windfall Tax Plan, The Blame Game on Petrol Prices
THE SCAM: Gas and coal companies have been banking billions in windfall profits from global energy shocks — profits earned through pure dumb luck, not innovation. Albo quietly asked Treasury to model a tax on those excess profits, then leaked it publicly to test the waters before committing to anything.
THE DAMAGE: Australian Energy Producers members paid zero income tax on a combined $138 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, taxpayers fund bailouts for struggling sectors while fossil fuel giants pocket the difference.
THE OUTCOME: The gas lobby fired up immediately. AEP CEO Samantha McCullough (a registered lobbyist) was handed column space in the Financial Review to argue they "already pay enough tax." They don't.
Punter Citations:
The Australia Institute - APPEA members pay no income tax on income of $138 billion
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It's Not Just You. Our Politicians Are Actually Getting Worse
THE SCAM: Nearly 40% of Australian parliamentarians were political staffers before entering parliament - ten times the rate in 1988. Five of the last six prime ministers came from staffer backgrounds. The political class has stopped recruiting from the real world and started recycling its own interns.
THE DAMAGE: Two-thirds of politicians come from staffer, union, or party machine backgrounds. The result is short-term thinking, policy built on briefing notes, and housing roundtables attended by people who've never stood in a rental queue.
THE COVER-UP/OUTCOME: It's hiding in plain sight. Major parties keep pre-selecting loyal staffers over tradies, teachers and small business owners. Without open ballots replacing member-based pre-selection, the pipeline stays intact - and nothing changes.
Punter Citations:
Manning Clifford - Australia has become a staffer state
The Punters Lobbyist
THE MISSION: We crowdfunded $80,000 from Punters to employ a professional lobbyist in Canberra - putting a people-funded voice in the room where gas and energy policy decisions are made.
THE UPDATE: We spent $467 on a Seek ad that generated 37 applications — including ex-mayors, lobbying veterans, a High Court governance officer and a Singaporean High Commission staffer — the field was whittled to four finalists. All were interviewed and references verified. We chose the lobbyist and will introduce them next ep! The remaining funds will go towards PR, media campaigns and parliamentary press stunts.
WHY IT MATTERS: The gas industry spends hundreds of millions lobbying politicians and planting op-eds in the Financial Review. For the first time, everyday Australians have their own funded voice at the table — not a think tank, not a party, not a corporation. Just punters.
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