Jordan Shanks-Markovina (born 18 August 1989), known online as Friendlyjordies, is an Australian

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...

. His content often discusses contemporary Australian political issues, involving self-described " lowbrow humour" style. Shanks' YouTube channel, created in February 2013, has more than 700,000 subscribers. He has interviewed politicians including

Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is a former Australian politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legislat ...

Tanya Plibersek Tanya Joan Plibersek (born 2 December 1969) is an Australian politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sydney since 1998 ...

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Represe ...

Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition a ...

Helen Dalton Helen Jennifer Dalton is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since March 2019, representing the electoral district of Murray as an independent. Since her election, Dalton has been a vocal c ...

and former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

Personal life

Shanks was born on 18 August 1989. He graduated from

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts The Newtown High School of the Performing Arts is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and specialist secondary day school in the suburb of Newtown in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is among a small number of performing a ...

, and later studied international studies at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

.University of New South Wales has an onlin
award verification service
To confirm Jordan's degree and conferral date, enter his first and last names and click on the search button. Prior to becoming a YouTuber, Shanks was a model, appearing in magazines and advertisements throughout Australia and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. Police launched investigations into two suspicious fires at Shanks' house in Bondi, one on 17 November 2022 and another on 23 November 2022. In a statement, Shanks' lawyers said that his home had been firebombed and hoped that police would dedicate every resource possible to investigate what happened.

YouTube career

Shanks' channel is primarily focused on comedy videos and political commentary, often in support of the Labor Party and critical of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. Early in his YouTube career, Shanks made paid videos for the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and la ...

GetUp! GetUp! is an independent progressive Australian political activist group. It was launched in August 2005 to encourage Internet activism in Australia, though it has increasingly engaged in offline community organising. GetUp is an independent ...

, and

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, after approaching them and offering to promote their cause. In 2016, he campaigned against the

Sydney lockout laws The Sydney lockout laws were introduced by the Government of New South Wales from February 2014 to January 2020 in the CBD and Oxford Street (and until March 2021 for Kings Cross) with the objective of reducing alcohol-fuelled violence. The legis ...

. In 2020, he produced reviews of Australian

cask wine Boxed wine (cask wine) is wine sold in a bag inside a box. The box is made of cardboard or corrugated fiberboard, which supports a plastic bladder filled with wine. The wine flows out from a plastic push-release valve. History The process fo ...

. Shanks has interviewed and filmed videos with former Prime Minister

. In July 2021, Shanks released an hour-long self-produced documentary entitled 'Blood Water: the war for Australia's water', discussing

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

harvesting in rural New South Wales and addressing allegations of corruption and mismanagement from local governments in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

. He exclusively interviewed Twitter commentator

PRGuy PRGuy is the Twitter username of the Australian political commentator Jeremy Maluta. Twitter account Maluta in March 2020 set up an anonymous Twitter account @PRGuy17, at the same time the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia. The account became pop ...

who revealed themselves to be Jeremy Maluta, circumventing an attempt by right-wing figure Avi Yemini to identify the owner of the account through legal action.

2019–20 bushfires

In 2019 and 2020, Shanks released multiple videos alleging that the then

New South Wales premier The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejiklian became a member ...

was one of the main people responsible for increasing the risk of bushfires and the destruction of the koala population in Australia. He created the

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#koalakiller, in reference to Berejiklian. On 10 June 2020, Shanks released an interview with

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

, discussing topics including the state and federal governments' response to the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

, including widespread deaths of animals. Shanks raised $300,000 for bushfire relief from his stand-up shows and sales of #koalakiller t-shirts.

Clive Palmer

In 2019, Shanks published a video covering businessman

Clive Palmer Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings. Palmer owns many businesses such as Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel at Townsville, the Palmer C ...

who was running in the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

. There were existing allegations of financial irregularity in the liquidation of Palmer's company

Queensland Nickel Queensland Nickel is a company owned by businessman and former politician Clive Palmer. Queensland Nickel owns and operates the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery at Yabulu in North Queensland, Australia. The refinery was established in July 1971 ...

and alleged failure to pay the company's workers, which Shanks covered, alongside satirising Palmer's behaviour and appearance. In response, Palmer threatened a defamation lawsuit, demanding and that Shanks cease making public statements about him. Shanks said he would not "capitulate" and released merchandise containing the statements in question. Commentators noted that Palmer appeared to have created a

Streisand effect Attempts to hide, remove, or censor information often have the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of that information via the Internet. This is called the Streisand effect. It is named after American singer and actress Barbra Streis ...

. Other commentators said that Palmer's legal threat was substantially similar to a

SLAPP suit Strategic lawsuits against public participation (also known as SLAPP suits or intimidation lawsuits), or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with t ...

and that such threats had a 'chilling effect' on public interest reporting.

Joe Hildebrand

In 2020, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' journalist

Joe Hildebrand Joe Hildebrand is an Australian journalist, television and radio presenter. Hildebrand writes for Sydney's ''The Daily Telegraph'' and is also known to contribute to a number of other News Corp publications, including Melbourne's Herald Sun an ...

made a complaint to

New South Wales police The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

accusing Shanks of stalking and harassment. The police laid no charges.

John Barilaro

In a political commentary video uploaded 29 June 2020, Shanks included an impersonation of

John Barilaro Giovanni Domenic "John" Barilaro (born 14 November 1971) is a former Australian politician who served as the 18th deputy premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the National Party from 2016 to 2021. He wa ...

Deputy Premier of New South Wales The Deputy Premier of New South Wales is the second-most senior officer in the Government of New South Wales. The deputy premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since 1932, and the deputy premier is appointed by the Governor on the advice ...

, which Barilaro described as "very offensive" and "full of racist undertones". Shanks subsequently filmed a video inside an

Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( ), based in San Francisco, California, operates an online marketplace focused on short-term homestays and experiences. The company acts as a broker and charges a commission from each booking. The company was founded in 2008 b ...

rental property owned by Barilaro, accusing him of corruption and environmental vandalism. In May 2021 Shanks published a letter sent by Barilaro in December of a threat to sue for

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

. In response, Shanks turned up dressed as the video game character

Luigi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

at a National Party event where Barilaro was giving a speech. Barilaro lodged defamation proceedings against Shanks on 27 May 2021. On 8 July Shanks' legal team responded by filing a truth defence, supported by an honest opinion defence for a subset of claims. In June 2021, Friendlyjordies producer Kristo Langker was arrested by officers from the Fixated Persons Unit and charged with two counts of

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The ter ...

and intimidating Barilaro after Langker had approached Barilaro at a National Party event with Shanks and on another occasion. Langker's lawyer

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

contested the police's accounts, and he denounced the timing of the arrest being soon after the defamation lawsuit commenced. He also criticised use of the Fixated Persons Unit, a

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

unit set up in the wake of the

Lindt Cafe siege The Lindt Cafe siege was a terrorist attack that occurred on 15–16 December 2014 when a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café in the APA Building in Martin Place, Sydney, ...

. In August 2021 it was revealed that Barilaro had been in contact with the Fixated Persons Unit regarding Shanks for at least six months prior to Langker's arrest. This contradicted what Barilaro had earlier told

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

host Tom Connell, saying that he had not requested the Fixated Persons Unit become involved in the matter. In October 2021 John Barilaro resigned as Deputy Premier of New South Wales and as the member for Monaro, citing his defamation case against Shanks as a "big reason" for the decision. In November 2021, Barilaro settled the defamation case with Shanks, and Shanks issued the following apology: "Mr Shanks accepts that some of the videos he posted were offensive to Mr Barilaro. Mr Shanks understands that Mr Barilaro has been hurt, and apologises to him for that hurt." Shanks was required to pay $100,000 in legal costs and Barilaro received no damages from the settlement. Shanks agreed to edit some of the contested videos, which would remain online, and to stop selling merchandise featuring Barilaro after Barilaro's retirement from politics. As of 10 March 2022, the NSW Police dropped all charges against Langker who is considering taking civil action against the police. Conduct of the NSW Fixated Persons Unit has been brought into question with

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Mark Speakman Mark Raymond Speakman (born 6 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He has served as the New South Wales Attorney General since January 2017 in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019, and in the first arrangement of the Perrott ...

being questioned over the case in budget estimates. Speakman refused to further comment, conceding that the matter may appear before

Law Enforcement Conduct Commission The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission is responsible for investigating allegations of serious misconduct by the NSW Police Force and NSW Crime Commission. It was established on 1 July 2017 to replace the Police Integrity Commission The Insp ...

. On 6 June 2022, the Federal Court judge awarded Barilaro $715,000 in defamation damages from Google for the YouTube videos, and referred Shanks and Google for possible prosecution for contempt of court.

ClubsNSW

In 2020, Troy Stolz was a compliance officer employed by gambling

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

Clubs NSW. Stolz contacted journalists and federal MP

Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Clark. Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Australian Army., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 Augu ...

, alleging that clubs in NSW were engaged in widespread non-compliance with anti-

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

laws. Following this, ClubsNSW terminated Stolz' employment. Stolz sued for

unfair dismissal In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation. Situation per country Australia (See: '' unfair dismissal in Australia'') Australia has long-standing ...

and ClubsNSW counter-sued for unlawful use of confidential information. Stolz has been described as a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

, and suffers from terminal bone cancer. In 2021, Shanks uploaded multiple videos to the Friendlyjordies channel where he criticised ClubsNSW, including a video interview with Troy Stolz. In September 2022, ClubsNSW began a highly unusual

private prosecution A private prosecution is a criminal law, criminal proceeding initiated by an individual private citizen or private organisation (such as a prosecution association) instead of by a public prosecutor who represents the State (polity), state. Private p ...

against both Shanks and Stolz, alleging that the video interview constituted

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

on both their parts. Shanks and Stolz face

criminal conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is cons ...

and potential prison sentences. ClubsNSW sought and obtained an interim

suppression order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...

, something normally only seen in high-level criminal cases. Following this, the video interview was taken down. In October 2022, the

NSW Crime Commission The New South Wales Crime Commission is a statutory corporation of the Government of New South Wales. It is constituted by the Crime Commission Act 2012, the object of which is to reduce the incidence of organised crime and other serious crime ...

released a report stating that criminals were in fact laundering billions of dollars using poker machines in NSW clubs and

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
1989 births 21st-century Australian comedians 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers Australian humorists Australian male comedians Australian male journalists Australian male models Australian people of Croatian descent Australian people of Scottish descent Australian political commentators Australian social commentators Australian stand-up comedians Australian YouTubers Cultural critics Free speech activists Living people People educated at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts People from New South Wales Social critics University of New South Wales alumni Writers about activism and social change