⏱️This edition of the National Account’s newsletter is a five-minute read.
👋 G’day everyone, Archie here.
We’ve got a lot on today, so let’s dive straight into the 🗞️.
The people who eventually make the rules are held to a lesser standard than those that sell us our furniture and underwear
🗣️ Why did he say that?
During the 2025 federal election, a wave of community groups appeared online - concerned citizens, mums, ordinary Australians - however some of these groups were not started by these people, but by big business.
Professor Daniel Angus from QUT's Digital Media Research Centre studies the way industry money flows into political advertising through fake grassroots campaigns, also known as astroturfing.
He explains how these groups operate, how to spot them, why they're technically legal and what needs to change.
Watch the full interview below:
Concussion culture 🧠
Despite being a Queensland supporter, I agree with Ashley Klein’s decision to send off Kalyn Ponga during Wednesday night’s Origin clash.
But I couldn’t help but feel most concerned for Tolu Koula, the NSW player who was shoulder charged by Ponga and suffered a stage 2 concussion.
On Wednesday I published this interview with the University of Queensland’s Professor Fatima Nasrallah about concussions and the culture we have around when it’s safe to return to play.
If you don’t have time to watch the full interview, you can take a look at the shorter video below:
Thanks for catching up with me, let me know what think by replying to this email 👋.
I’ll be back on Monday.
Cheers, Archie