Premiere Tuesday 19 October 8.30pm
Christiaan Van Vuuren’s unlikely journey shows us why we should care, and how we might work together to ensure our democracy is safeguarded from being sold to the highest bidder.
Big Deal looks at Australia’s billion-dollar political lobbying industry. For every federal politician, there’s millions of dollars devoted just to swinging their opinion, or their vote.This engaging ABC factual series is a wake-up call about the frightening extent to which money has infiltrated politics.
Big Deal is presented by Christiaan Van Vuuren (Soul Mates, Bondi Hipsters) - an everyday Australian - a comedian and a father with a keen sense of fairness, justice, and humour. He’s no political expert. But he got obsessed watching America slowly falling apart. And he was shocked to realise that it was not only the American democracy being ruled by big money – but that Australia has a problem too.
In the series, Christiaan meets with a range of politicians, journalists, and experts, such as Malcolm Turnbull, Jason Falinski, Sam Dastyari, Scott Ryan, Kate McClymont, Dr Andrew Leigh, Helen Haines, Jacqui Lambie, Katharine Murphy, Linda Burney, and Zali Steggall, to ask, ‘Is Australia’s democracy for sale?’
Production credits: A Jungle Entertainment, Stranger Than Fiction, Shark Island, Madman Entertainment and ABC Production. Principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW. Director: Craig Reucassel, Producer: Aline Jacques, Executive Producers: Jen Peedom, Bridget Callow-Wright, Jason Burrows, Malinda Wink and Paul Wiegard. ABC Manager of Documentaries Stephen Oliver.