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Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm christianamiot.

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Speaker 1: It's Thursday, January thirteen. Fourteen members of a fringe Christian

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Speaker 1: group were found guilty of the manslaughter of diabetic girl

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Speaker 1: Elizabeth Strews on Wednesday. The eight year old died after

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Speaker 1: the group, who call themselves the Saints and shun medical treatment,

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Speaker 1: withheld her insulin for several days. Hopes of a pre

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Speaker 1: election rate cut are high after inflation fell to its

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Speaker 1: lowest level in four years in December. The drop came

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Speaker 1: as a surprise to economists who say the Reserve Bank

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Speaker 1: could offer mortgage holders some long awaited relief when it

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Speaker 1: meets next month. Those stories alive right now at the

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Speaker 1: Australian dot com dot a U. A federal election is

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Speaker 1: just around the corner, and that means the major parties

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Speaker 1: are rattling the tin for campaign donations. But it's a

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Speaker 1: lavish dinner attended by the Prime Minister that's peaked our

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Speaker 1: Victorian editors attention. That's today's episode. In November, a group

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Speaker 1: of people sat down for a meal in one of

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Speaker 1: Melbourne's ritziest neighborhoods. The table had been laid with a

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Speaker 1: white tablecloth and gleaming silverware. Wineglasses containing a rich red

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Speaker 1: drop clinked, and the Indian inspired food even came topped

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Speaker 1: with gold leaf. As conversation bounced back and forth, someone

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Speaker 1: cracked a joke organizing former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews, who

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Speaker 1: was seated to the right of Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi,

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Speaker 1: picked up the threat.

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Speaker 2: The logic there is instead of only process together.

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Speaker 1: The best around the table were members of Melbourne's Indian

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Speaker 1: Australian business community, and it appears from the audio you've

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Speaker 1: just heard that they've got some feedback for the Prime Minister.

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Speaker 3: It's not often that you get to see how Victorian

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Speaker 3: alp politics is made.

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Speaker 2: Here.

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Speaker 1: Damon Johnston is The Australian's Victorian editor.

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Speaker 3: But this video, albeit short, shows you Dan controlling the

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Speaker 3: discussion when issues around visas are raised. So you know,

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Speaker 3: these are very significant issues and I think the Australian

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Speaker 3: public deserves to know exactly what was discussed, how much

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Speaker 3: money was donated to buy a seat at this table,

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Speaker 3: if in fact any was, and how many more of

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Speaker 3: these sort of events are being held.

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Speaker 1: And Damon, what have you determined to be the purpose

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Speaker 1: of this launch.

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Speaker 3: The Prime Minister's Office won't won't confirm that it was

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Speaker 3: a political fundraising event designed to extract donations from those

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Speaker 3: who are tended to help bankroll the twenty twenty five

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Speaker 3: federal election. We put that specific question to the PMO

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Speaker 3: and they just refuse to engage on it. Now, I've

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Speaker 3: got multiple people within the Victorian ALP who believe that

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Speaker 3: the only way that you can get the Prime Minister

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Speaker 3: and a former labor premier to your private house, even

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Speaker 3: when it is a Turek mansion, is to have it

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Speaker 3: as a fundraising event. However, we don't know that to

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Speaker 3: be one hundred percent the case, but certainly many within

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Speaker 3: the party are making that speculation.

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Speaker 1: The dinner was hosted at a Tuak mansion belonging to

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Speaker 1: deshaiant Kanna and his wife Redeemer. One of the dozen

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Speaker 1: or so attendees described it in a post on Instagram

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Speaker 1: as four hours of exquisite cuisine and hospitality. Another said

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Speaker 1: it was an incredible moment in Mileston, owned for the

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Speaker 1: Indian business leaders who came forward to support it, as

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Speaker 1: well as the widespread community they represent. The Prime Minister's

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Speaker 1: Private secretary, David Epstein, was also in attendance, but it's

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Speaker 1: the man who was seated on the other side of

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Speaker 1: Anthony Albanesi that Pete Damon's interest.

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Speaker 3: Okay, So, Raprinda Bra is a very successful, industrious Indian

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Speaker 3: Australian businessman. He's worth many many millions, tens of millions

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Speaker 3: according to some people I've spoken to. He's been very

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Speaker 3: successful in the construction industry, both commercial and residential. However,

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Speaker 3: there's another arm of his business, the international student business,

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Speaker 3: that has struck some problems and this is why the

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Speaker 3: story becomes interesting.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 3: In May last year, the Federal Regulator of International Colleges,

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Speaker 3: so this is the watchdog that essentially checks for compliance

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Speaker 3: on companies that bring in foreign students, they deregistered Reprinda

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Speaker 3: BRA's company called Barclay International College, and they did this

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Speaker 3: because they determined that there was significant non compliance and

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Speaker 3: in a statement to The Australian for this story, they've

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Speaker 3: confirmed that non compliance was around governance, enrollments, marketing, so

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Speaker 3: these are really key pillars of the international college business. Currently,

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Speaker 3: Barclay has appealed that decision and is going through the

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Speaker 3: hearing process and will be determined later this year. They

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Speaker 3: got an interim stay on the de registration, but there

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Speaker 3: are some limitations on what it can continue to do.

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Speaker 4: I don't think it can enroll any new students and

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Speaker 4: there are ongoing restrictions. Now Barclay are still operating at

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Speaker 4: a level and they are hopeful that they will overturn this.

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Speaker 4: But it becomes interesting because ASQUA they launched almost two

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Speaker 4: hundred fresh investigations. So in the midst of this crackdown,

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Speaker 4: here we have a private dinner in a Turek mansion

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Speaker 4: where you have an operator of a deregistered international student

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Speaker 4: company sitting next to the Prime Minister.

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Speaker 1: Based on social media posts made by the attendees' visas, Tourism,

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Speaker 1: the economy, and the property and construction sectors were discussed

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Speaker 1: at the time. Student visas in particular were a hot topic.

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Speaker 1: With record migration putting pressure on housing services and infrastructure.

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Speaker 1: The government was looking for solutions to keep international student

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Speaker 1: numbers in check. Having failed to introduce caps through legislation,

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Speaker 1: the government pursued a different route. Under the new direction,

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Speaker 1: When universities reach eighty percent of their government set quota,

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Speaker 1: which is different for each institution, the pace of visa

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Speaker 1: approvals ailslow. Plus, the Australian Skills Quality Authority was also

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Speaker 1: cracking down on international student operators following a multimillion dollar

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Speaker 1: funding boost. We heard in that video, and as you've

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Speaker 1: just said that visas in various capacities were discussed apparently

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Speaker 1: at this event. We don't really as members of the

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Speaker 1: public hear much of this kind of political wheeling and

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Speaker 1: dealing here in Australia as much as we might do

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Speaker 1: in an American context, for example. But do you think

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Speaker 1: there is any significance to the fact that the government's

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Speaker 1: visa programs were apparently discussed at this event where at

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Speaker 1: least one attendee, being Ripindabra, clearly has a vested interest

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Speaker 1: in the continued flow of international students, particularly from India

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Speaker 1: into the country.

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Speaker 3: Well, we asked the Prominster's Office did they discuss international

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Speaker 3: students in any capacity? What else did they talk about?

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Speaker 3: And the PMO wouldn't confirm or deny what they discussed.

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Speaker 3: As for mister bra he has not returned calls. I

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Speaker 3: believe he is overseas traveling. There's a lot of people

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Speaker 3: not wanting to talk about this story. I've also sent

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Speaker 3: questions to Daniel Andrews he has not responded, and the

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Speaker 3: businessman who hosted the event at his Tuac mansion, he

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Speaker 3: and his wife are also traveling overseas. They've not responded

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Speaker 3: in any detailed way other than the wife did tell

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Speaker 3: me this morning over the phone that it was a

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Speaker 3: memorable event.

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Speaker 1: Coming up. A window into the post premiership life of

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Speaker 1: Dan Andrews. Dan Andrews has kept a relatively low profile

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Speaker 1: since he pulled the pin on his long and storied

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Speaker 1: politics career in late twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 3: Work.

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Speaker 2: I am worse than a workaholic. I'd spend every waky

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Speaker 2: moment is about the work, and there's only so long

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Speaker 2: you can do that for. You never want to finish

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Speaker 2: up in a situation where you aren't enjoying the work,

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Speaker 2: where you are resempful of the fact that you're doing

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Speaker 2: this and not doing something else. I'm not at that point.

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Speaker 1: His appearance at a lavish dinner alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albinizi,

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Speaker 1: as told through social media posts made by those in attendance,

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Speaker 1: provides unique insight into what he's been up to since then.

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Speaker 1: Here's Damon Johnston.

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Speaker 3: We don't know a lot about Dan Andrew's role in

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Speaker 3: this TRAC function. What we do know, courtesy of the

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Speaker 3: video and the photos, was that he was there.

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Speaker 4: Did he organize the event? We don't know.

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Speaker 3: I asked him that question in an email. I didn't

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Speaker 3: get a response. I asked the PMO that question, and

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Speaker 3: I didn't get a response. Has he organized any other

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Speaker 3: similar fundraising events? We don't know the answer to those questions.

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Speaker 3: Do know that he remains very well connected within the

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Speaker 3: Indian Australian community from his time as Premiere, and we

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Speaker 3: also know that he's close to Albanezi.

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Speaker 4: So I guess the listeners can make up their own mind.

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Speaker 1: Just lastly, Damon, there was a time when it felt

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Speaker 1: like Dan Andrews was all over TV and radio, particularly

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Speaker 1: during the COVID nineteen pandemic. What does his appearance tell

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Speaker 1: us about how he's spending his professional time after politics?

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Speaker 3: So you're right, Dan has sunk from public view largely.

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Speaker 3: He had possibly one of the highest profiles of a

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Speaker 3: state leader in the history of Federation courtesy of the

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Speaker 3: COVID lockdowns here. Since his resignation, he's done very little

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Speaker 3: public media. However, he's very busy behind the scenes. He's

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Speaker 3: established his own private isn't the Empire of which he's

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Speaker 3: the director. He's partnered with a former member of staff,

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Speaker 3: and we know that he's got connections in China. But

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Speaker 3: what this shows is the Dan Andrews, despite not being

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Speaker 3: on our televisions anymore, remains a figure of influence within

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Speaker 3: Victorian politics, particularly labor politics.

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Speaker 1: Damon Johnston is The Australian's Victorian editor. You can read

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Speaker 1: all about the PM's trip to Tuak right now at

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Speaker 1: the Australian dot com dot au