BIG DEAL
New miniseries, Tuesday, 8.30pm, ABC

Christiaan Van Vuuren of Bondi Hipsters fame is not a political animal. Before embarking on Big Deal, a two-part analysis of Australia’s political donations system directed by Craig Reucassel, he wore his ignorance as a badge of honour.

Christiaan Van Vuuren in Big Deal: woke up to the power of politics.Credit:

His rude awakening to the monetary machinations of the halls of power and their effects on our democracy, captured during revealing interviews with politicians, lobbyists and journalists, should rouse the similarly complacent.

“I thought my cynicism and my disengagement from politics was empowering – that it was a choice that allowed me to feel better about myself,” says the comedian. “I learnt that it was the opposite – that in fact by disengaging with the system, you’re only empowering the people who benefit from it.”

Recent scrutiny of the top offices of NSW and Victoria notwithstanding, the documentary comes at a time when public trust in governments is in crisis. According to the Next 25 Navigator Social Research report, 89 per cent of Australians think politicians will lie to protect their jobs, and 56 per cent agree that they are often corrupt. To reach that cheesed-off majority, Big Deal mixes straight interviews with comedy sketches, Chaser stunts and graphic explainers.

Distilling dry, if alarming information through Van Vuuren’s Everyman, it speaks directly to the politically disinterested.

“I was shocked to realise the extent of how much money comes in political donations and how long it takes us to find out who’s made those donations. The fact is that we will never know where 30 to 40 per cent of that money came from.

“I started to understand the industry that has sprung up around this process … and then also learning that there is no truth in advertising when it comes to politics.

“If you’re a toothpaste brand, you have to be truthful about your toothpaste. But if you’re a politician from the Labor Party, you can say whatever you want about someone from the Liberal Party and vice versa and there are no repercussions.

“All these things affect our trust, whether it’s the micro-lies we’re told before an election that never come to pass, or whether it’s the bullshit that happens during the election cycle from both sides of the major parties.”

A clever mash-up of Peter Dutton soundbites hilariously illustrates the point. A tense exchange with Sam Dastyari, cheekily held in an empty Chinese restaurant, in which the former Labor senator is gobsmacked at his interviewer’s naivete, leaves Van Vuuren visibly emotional. Segments addressing gun laws and gambling lay bare potential real-world consequences of the lobbying industry.

Van Vuuren was surprised at the ease at which “career shit-stirrer” Reucassel was able to fix interviews for him with current and former MPs. A notable omission is Clive Palmer, whom Van Vuuren jokes might rue not having the opportunity to “have me for breakfast” once his journalistic inexperience is broadcast. From Reucassel, he learnt on the fly the fine art of blending truth with humour.

“Sometimes I’d go to make a joke and he’d pull me up and say, ‘If you’re going to say that joke, you need to word it like this because that’s not entirely factual’. He has a very good grasp of being able to make a joke and make sure you’re not misinforming people.”

Van Vuuren hopes the series will start conversations that have previously been avoided because of the two-party, “football team” nature of Australian politics, and inspire voters to action beyond Tweets and Facebook likes.

“Things that I thought were impotent, like sending your member a letter or attending a council meeting, do have impact. A lot of politics is local and finding people in your area that care about what you do can improve the situation for all of you … We’ve got to start with people leaning in to the democratic process.”

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