When you combine the star power of two of Australia’s buzziest comedy teams, you can be sure to cause a few ripples. Add perfect release timing and you can expect a splash. That is exactly what happened when Big Deal, a tongue-in-cheek documentary about money’s influence over politics, directed by The Chaser’s Craig Reucassel and hosted by Bondi Hipster Christiaan Van Vuuren, launched in cinemas five months before the 2022 Australian election.  

More than 600,000 people watched Big Deal in cinemas, online or on television over six weeks, generating media coverage that would ultimately reach 5.3 million Australians – one third of all voters – with its tagline of “Is our democracy for sale?”  

The attention generated by Big Deal came from every direction, including a special “Big Money and Politics” episode of Q&A in October 2021. On the back of Big Deal, the #OurDemocracy campaign, an alliance pushing for more transparency in politics, recruited more than 15,000+ active members. 

Though the election’s overall result was largely forecast by polls, an unexpected number of voters broke from major parties to put their trust in new independent candidates as a theme of integrity, the same theme advocated by Big Deal, dominated the campaign.