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Inside Albo’s ‘exquisite’ visit to Toorak · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm christianamiot.
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  Speaker 1: It's Thursday, January thirteen. Fourteen members of a fringe Christian
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  Speaker 1: group were found guilty of the manslaughter of diabetic girl
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  Speaker 1: Elizabeth Strews on Wednesday. The eight year old died after
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  Speaker 1: the group, who call themselves the Saints and shun medical treatment,
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  Speaker 1: withheld her insulin for several days. Hopes of a pre
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  Speaker 1: election rate cut are high after inflation fell to its
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  Speaker 1: lowest level in four years in December. The drop came
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  Speaker 1: as a surprise to economists who say the Reserve Bank
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  Speaker 1: could offer mortgage holders some long awaited relief when it
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  Speaker 1: meets next month. Those stories alive right now at the
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  Speaker 1: Australian dot com dot a U. A federal election is
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  Speaker 1: just around the corner, and that means the major parties
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  Speaker 1: are rattling the tin for campaign donations. But it's a
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  Speaker 1: lavish dinner attended by the Prime Minister that's peaked our
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  Speaker 1: Victorian editors attention. That's today's episode. In November, a group
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  Speaker 1: of people sat down for a meal in one of
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  Speaker 1: Melbourne's ritziest neighborhoods. The table had been laid with a
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  Speaker 1: white tablecloth and gleaming silverware. Wineglasses containing a rich red
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  Speaker 1: drop clinked, and the Indian inspired food even came topped
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  Speaker 1: with gold leaf. As conversation bounced back and forth, someone
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  Speaker 1: cracked a joke organizing former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, who
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  Speaker 1: was seated to the right of Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi,
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  Speaker 1: picked up the threat.
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  Speaker 2: The logic there is instead of only process together.
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  Speaker 1: The best around the table were members of Melbourne's Indian
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  Speaker 1: Australian business community, and it appears from the audio you've
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  Speaker 1: just heard that they've got some feedback for the Prime Minister.
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  Speaker 3: It's not often that you get to see how Victorian
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  Speaker 3: alp politics is made.
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  Speaker 2: Here.
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  Speaker 1: Damon Johnston is The Australian's Victorian editor.
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  Speaker 3: But this video, albeit short, shows you Dan controlling the
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  Speaker 3: discussion when issues around visas are raised. So you know,
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  Speaker 3: these are very significant issues and I think the Australian
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  Speaker 3: public deserves to know exactly what was discussed, how much
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  Speaker 3: money was donated to buy a seat at this table,
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  Speaker 3: if in fact any was, and how many more of
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  Speaker 3: these sort of events are being held.
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  Speaker 1: And Damon, what have you determined to be the purpose
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  Speaker 1: of this launch.
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  Speaker 3: The Prime Minister's Office won't won't confirm that it was
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  Speaker 3: a political fundraising event designed to extract donations from those
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  Speaker 3: who are tended to help bankroll the twenty twenty five
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  Speaker 3: federal election. We put that specific question to the PMO
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  Speaker 3: and they just refuse to engage on it. Now, I've
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  Speaker 3: got multiple people within the Victorian ALP who believe that
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  Speaker 3: the only way that you can get the Prime Minister
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  Speaker 3: and a former labor premier to your private house, even
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  Speaker 3: when it is a Turek mansion, is to have it
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  Speaker 3: as a fundraising event. However, we don't know that to
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  Speaker 3: be one hundred percent the case, but certainly many within
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  Speaker 3: the party are making that speculation.
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  Speaker 1: The dinner was hosted at a Tuak mansion belonging to
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  Speaker 1: deshaiant Kanna and his wife Redeemer. One of the dozen
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  Speaker 1: or so attendees described it in a post on Instagram
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  Speaker 1: as four hours of exquisite cuisine and hospitality. Another said
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  Speaker 1: it was an incredible moment in Mileston, owned for the
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  Speaker 1: Indian business leaders who came forward to support it, as
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  Speaker 1: well as the widespread community they represent. The Prime Minister's
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  Speaker 1: Private secretary, David Epstein, was also in attendance, but it's
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  Speaker 1: the man who was seated on the other side of
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  Speaker 1: Anthony Albanesi that Pete Damon's interest.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, So, Raprinda Bra is a very successful, industrious Indian
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  Speaker 3: Australian businessman. He's worth many many millions, tens of millions
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  Speaker 3: according to some people I've spoken to. He's been very
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  Speaker 3: successful in the construction industry, both commercial and residential. However,
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  Speaker 3: there's another arm of his business, the international student business,
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  Speaker 3: that has struck some problems and this is why the
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  Speaker 3: story becomes interesting.
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  Speaker 4: Now.
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  Speaker 3: In May last year, the Federal Regulator of International Colleges,
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  Speaker 3: so this is the watchdog that essentially checks for compliance
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  Speaker 3: on companies that bring in foreign students, they deregistered Reprinda
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  Speaker 3: BRA's company called Barclay International College, and they did this
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  Speaker 3: because they determined that there was significant non compliance and
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  Speaker 3: in a statement to The Australian for this story, they've
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  Speaker 3: confirmed that non compliance was around governance, enrollments, marketing, so
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  Speaker 3: these are really key pillars of the international college business. Currently,
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  Speaker 3: Barclay has appealed that decision and is going through the
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  Speaker 3: hearing process and will be determined later this year. They
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  Speaker 3: got an interim stay on the de registration, but there
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  Speaker 3: are some limitations on what it can continue to do.
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  Speaker 4: I don't think it can enroll any new students and
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  Speaker 4: there are ongoing restrictions. Now Barclay are still operating at
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  Speaker 4: a level and they are hopeful that they will overturn this.
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  Speaker 4: But it becomes interesting because ASQUA they launched almost two
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  Speaker 4: hundred fresh investigations. So in the midst of this crackdown,
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  Speaker 4: here we have a private dinner in a Turek mansion
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  Speaker 4: where you have an operator of a deregistered international student
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  Speaker 4: company sitting next to the Prime Minister.
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  Speaker 1: Based on social media posts made by the attendees' visas, Tourism,
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  Speaker 1: the economy, and the property and construction sectors were discussed
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  Speaker 1: at the time. Student visas in particular were a hot topic.
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  Speaker 1: With record migration putting pressure on housing services and infrastructure.
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  Speaker 1: The government was looking for solutions to keep international student
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  Speaker 1: numbers in check. Having failed to introduce caps through legislation,
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  Speaker 1: the government pursued a different route. Under the new direction,
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  Speaker 1: When universities reach eighty percent of their government set quota,
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  Speaker 1: which is different for each institution, the pace of visa
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  Speaker 1: approvals ailslow. Plus, the Australian Skills Quality Authority was also
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  Speaker 1: cracking down on international student operators following a multimillion dollar
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  Speaker 1: funding boost. We heard in that video, and as you've
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  Speaker 1: just said that visas in various capacities were discussed apparently
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  Speaker 1: at this event. We don't really as members of the
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  Speaker 1: public hear much of this kind of political wheeling and
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  Speaker 1: dealing here in Australia as much as we might do
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  Speaker 1: in an American context, for example. But do you think
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  Speaker 1: there is any significance to the fact that the government's
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  Speaker 1: visa programs were apparently discussed at this event where at
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  Speaker 1: least one attendee, being Ripindabra, clearly has a vested interest
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  Speaker 1: in the continued flow of international students, particularly from India
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  Speaker 1: into the country.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we asked the Prominster's Office did they discuss international
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  Speaker 3: students in any capacity? What else did they talk about?
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  Speaker 3: And the PMO wouldn't confirm or deny what they discussed.
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  Speaker 3: As for mister bra he has not returned calls. I
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  Speaker 3: believe he is overseas traveling. There's a lot of people
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  Speaker 3: not wanting to talk about this story. I've also sent
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  Speaker 3: questions to Daniel Andrews he has not responded, and the
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  Speaker 3: businessman who hosted the event at his Tuac mansion, he
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  Speaker 3: and his wife are also traveling overseas. They've not responded
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  Speaker 3: in any detailed way other than the wife did tell
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  Speaker 3: me this morning over the phone that it was a
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  Speaker 3: memorable event.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up. A window into the post premiership life of
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  Speaker 1: Dan Andrews. Dan Andrews has kept a relatively low profile
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  Speaker 1: since he pulled the pin on his long and storied
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  Speaker 1: politics career in late twenty twenty three.
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  Speaker 3: Work.
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  Speaker 2: I am worse than a workaholic. I'd spend every waky
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  Speaker 2: moment is about the work, and there's only so long
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  Speaker 2: you can do that for. You never want to finish
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  Speaker 2: up in a situation where you aren't enjoying the work,
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  Speaker 2: where you are resempful of the fact that you're doing
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  Speaker 2: this and not doing something else. I'm not at that point.
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  Speaker 1: His appearance at a lavish dinner alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albinizi,
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  Speaker 1: as told through social media posts made by those in attendance,
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  Speaker 1: provides unique insight into what he's been up to since then.
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  Speaker 1: Here's Damon Johnston.
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  Speaker 3: We don't know a lot about Dan Andrew's role in
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  Speaker 3: this TRAC function. What we do know, courtesy of the
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  Speaker 3: video and the photos, was that he was there.
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  Speaker 4: Did he organize the event? We don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I asked him that question in an email. I didn't
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  Speaker 3: get a response. I asked the PMO that question, and
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  Speaker 3: I didn't get a response. Has he organized any other
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  Speaker 3: similar fundraising events? We don't know the answer to those questions.
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  Speaker 3: Do know that he remains very well connected within the
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  Speaker 3: Indian Australian community from his time as Premiere, and we
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  Speaker 3: also know that he's close to Albanezi.
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  Speaker 4: So I guess the listeners can make up their own mind.
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  Speaker 1: Just lastly, Damon, there was a time when it felt
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  Speaker 1: like Dan Andrews was all over TV and radio, particularly
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  Speaker 1: during the COVID nineteen pandemic. What does his appearance tell
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  Speaker 1: us about how he's spending his professional time after politics?
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  Speaker 3: So you're right, Dan has sunk from public view largely.
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  Speaker 3: He had possibly one of the highest profiles of a
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  Speaker 3: state leader in the history of Federation courtesy of the
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  Speaker 3: COVID lockdowns here. Since his resignation, he's done very little
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  Speaker 3: public media. However, he's very busy behind the scenes. He's
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  Speaker 3: established his own private isn't the Empire of which he's
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  Speaker 3: the director. He's partnered with a former member of staff,
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  Speaker 3: and we know that he's got connections in China. But
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  Speaker 3: what this shows is the Dan Andrews, despite not being
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  Speaker 3: on our televisions anymore, remains a figure of influence within
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  Speaker 3: Victorian politics, particularly labor politics.
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  Speaker 1: Damon Johnston is The Australian's Victorian editor. You can read
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  Speaker 1: all about the PM's trip to Tuak right now at
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  Speaker 1: the Australian dot com dot au