The rise of the right-wing grifter

Karl, Kyle, Hughesy... who's next?

Karl Stefanovic is finally unshackled. It seems an interview with an ultra-far-right agitator was the step too far for the top brass over at Nine. The news broke on Wednesday; after 26 years, Australia’s highest-paid TV star has been dumped from his contract six months early.

For all the spectacle of the last thirty-six hours, it seems a convenient separation for everyone involved. Nine gets an excuse to expedite the long-speculated exit of an expensive and increasingly risky employee, and Stefanovic frees himself up to focus fully on his new project, without answering to corporate media overlords. A cynic might even suggest that The Karl Stefanovic Show’s increasingly dangerous guest list was curated with this very outcome in mind.

Since the podcast’s January debut, which set the tone with One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, as guest, Stefanovic’s fraternisation with the far-right has spanned the conspiracy theorists, vaccine sceptics, fossil fuel lobbyists, war crimes apologists, anti-immigration culture warriors, islamophobes, and wellness grifters. The handful of progressive outliers that have made the cut are pitted against their ideological opponents and expected to engage in the demeaning political theatre of a digital debate. Meanwhile, Stefanovic has hired alt-right edge lord Drew Pavlou to further the show’s mission of antagonising the ‘woke’ and harassing minorities, which he’ll do through his role as ‘chief chaos correspondent’.

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The roaring success of the show, currently ranked third on Australia’s Apple Podcast Charts, appears to have created something of a blueprint for a certain breed of exorbitantly paid media ‘larrikin’ keen to dip their toes into the lucrative politics of the far right. The kind of man whose luxury property portfolio makes him an elite by definition, but who prefers to play the role of the downtrodden everyman. The outspoken battler brave enough to take on the very same media establishment that has paid his bills for decades. Is the new wave of right-wing grifting a recession indicator? Sure feels like it.

Two months after Stefanovic took up the podcast mic, radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands found himself abruptly sacked from his $100 million contract with ARN. The network argued that alleged misconduct and accusations of bullying levelled by Jackie O, Sandiland’s co-star of nearly three decades, constituted a breach of contract - just two years into the decade-long deal. An unfair dismissal suit followed, with Sandilands ultimately agreeing to settle for $12 million in cash and a revenue share agreement that will see ARN promote his new “independent media” venture on its radio stations.

Already, Sandilands has signalled that Kyle Live - set to stream direct to paid subscribers from August - will be an even looser operation than his controversy-ridden radio show, freed from the “censorship” and advertising constraints of a commercial network. He claims he won’t be making things “purposefully grubby”, whatever that means, but shilling for One Nation looks to be fair game. In his first full-length media interview since the ARN fallout, Sandilands revealed he’d been spending time with Pauline Hanson and her team to advise them on “getting their message across”. He later clarified that he was not officially “working for” One Nation, but was just “on board with their plan” and “likes hanging out” with Hanson.

“According to the other political outlets, she doesn’t have any policies, but they actually do have them, it’s just not full of shit and lies and waste and dribble. And I’m with Gina Rinehart too - let’s just get this orange bulldozer and put it through this government and get rid of all of the waste,” Sandilands told the press earlier this week. Nice, cool, and very normal. Australia’s richest person most definitely wants the best for Australia and won’t sell out our national interests to an American trillionaire and genocidal Israeli weapons manufacturers - oh wait.

Completing the unholy trio of right-wing grifting is somewhat of a surprise entrant - ‘larrikin’ Australian comedian Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes. Unencumbered by a network deal since his Hit Network radio show’s 2024 axing, Hughes has recently felt the pull to insert his opinion into the national political conversation. Self-identified as a lifelong Labor voter, the 2026 budget is where it all unravelled for Hughes, who reckons that capital gains tax (CGT) and negative gearing changes have “tipped Australia over the edge”. To date, his takes have skewed more disgruntled property investor than fascist-friendly provocateur; his recent comments on immigration suggest he’s not above a dog-whistle. For now, he says he doesn’t plan to affiliate himself with any political party. Here’s hoping.

So, what are we meant to make of all of this? That the allure of right-wing politics is enough for Australia’s top-paid media stars to put it all on the line? Whether the ego-mania has these men properly drinking the koolaid, or they’re simply following the money without regard for the consequences, it remains difficult to nail down. Either way, it’s not looking good for our democracy.