Back in 2022, one week after Albo was elected, I rang the gloriously handsome Andrew “Lord” Charlton and briefed him on the incoming gas catastrophe his government faced.
Those words fell into oblivion, never to be heard again, and perhaps today we can understand why.
The square-jawed man of the people had his sights set higher.
The AFR today argues that Labor MP Andrew Charlton has occupied an uncomfortably close relationship with the cryptocurrency industry.
Following Donald Trump’s re-election, Charlton quickly amplified a pro-crypto message inside a WhatsApp group containing senior figures from Australia’s crypto sector, promising further supportive announcements and events.
Charlton got a $49,500 campaign donation from Brisbane-based crypto exchange Swyftx during the federal election, according to the AFR.
Charlton is now working on new crypto laws and is a member of a WhatsApp group called “Digital Assets Roadmap” that includes lobbyists and companies that will be affected by the laws.
The article questions whether this access is appropriate, raises concerns about influence and transparency, and ends with a sarcastic warning that Charlton could become a mouthpiece for what it calls the “snake-pit” of crypto lobbying.
I will add that for such an attack piece to appear in the most corrupt business newspaper on the planet, the optics must be pretty damn awful.
But then, pretty damn awful optics are what Lord Charlton does best, other than being an enviable chinman.
Who can forget Andrew “Lord” Chalton being elected to the immigration-crush-loaded seat of Parramatta while buying his $12m Palm Beach summer palace free of all annoyances but sunshine and a sea
It is rumoured that Lord Charlton and his wife, Lady Pharcus, live in a Paramatta unit during the week, though I do wonder if these aren’t cardboard cutouts or a pair of appropriately dimensioned Untouchables flown in from Hyderabad to represent lordly silhouettes.
It’s not easy to keep up, frankly. They might also be stowing away in the $16m Bellevue Hill palace.
Either way, Lord Charlton’s ill-fated shift from real estate royalty to crypto huckster says more about him than it does about the prospects of his portfolio of assets.
Doing God’s work in the crypto shell game for the working people of Parramatta!
It’s almost as if Labor High Command does not like him.
