While the Australian media spent the week obsessing over Jordon Steele-John, a far bigger story about political donations, corporate lobbying, private health insurance and former government executives was sitting in plain sight. And fuck me, the connections deserve some scrutiny. In May 2016, Bill Shorten wrote to the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association (NALSPA), promising to protect favourable fringe benefits tax arrangements. EIGHT DAYS LATER, NALSPA donated $120,000 to Labor. Two days after the federal election, it donated another $100,000. Labor incorrectly recorded that payment as an “other receipt”. The Australian Electoral Commission eventually picked it up. Labor blamed a “clerical error”. NALSPA also donated $150,000 to the Liberals in April 2017. Now follow the money. NALSPA’s current board includes ROB DE LUCA, the former CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency. De Luca now runs McMillan Shakespeare, which owns salary packaging giants Maxxia and RemServ, as well as NDIS plan management companies Plan Partners, Plan Tracker and My Plan Support. The company makes money from salary packaging and disability services. Its leasing businesses benefit commercially from tax arrangements the industry lobbies to preserve. And who has lobbied for NALSPA? DPG Advisory Solutions. In July 2022, DPG formally declared that it had conducted lobbying for BOTH NALSPA and Private Healthcare Australia during the preceding 12 months. Now here’s where it gets interesting. One of DPG’s registered lobbyists is BEN OQUIST. Yes, the former Australia Institute executive director who remained on its board after leaving his executive position. And the husband of Greens Senator SARAH HANSON-YOUNG. DPG’s predecessor, ECG Advisory, also had a documented business relationship with former Liberal Treasurer and Future Fund chairman Peter Costello. Fast-forward to August 2026. NALSPA makes a submission to Parliament calling for a NEW tax concession allowing employees to salary package private health insurance premiums. Private Healthcare Australia had been pushing similar arrangements for years. Meanwhile, the Albanese government was trying to remove the additional private health insurance rebate for people aged 65 and over, saving approximately $3 billion over four years. The Greens helped block that legislation this week. Mark Butler has reintroduced it. NALSPA’s proposed tax concession is separate from the legislation and has not been enacted. But consider what is happening. Older Australians face losing part of their health insurance rebate while an industry association representing major financial services businesses is lobbying for another tax concession that could generate additional business for salary packaging companies. And sitting on that association’s board is the former head of the NDIA, now running a company making millions from both salary packaging and NDIS plan management. The association has a documented history of substantial political donations. Its lobbying firm has represented both the salary packaging industry and private health insurers. And one of that firm’s registered lobbyists is married to a senior Greens senator. To be clear, there is no evidence that Oquist personally handled these accounts or that Hanson-Young influenced the legislation. But surely Australians deserve to know exactly who has been lobbying whom, what they have asked for, and whose commercial interests stand to benefit. Where are the journalists examining THAT? Where is the scrutiny of former government executives moving into industries dependent on government funding and favourable tax treatment? Where is the investigation into the relationships between political donations, corporate lobbyists, public policy and private profit? Instead, we’ve spent the week watching the political and media circus around Jordon Steele-John.