Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd unleashed a Tsunami on social media raising money for his sugar baby Jordan Shanks, aka YouTuber Friendlyjordies, on the 18th of June 2021. Cash would have started flowing into Shanks’ bank account in a massive way.

In return Shanks pushes lies and propaganda for Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party and Shanks’s grovelling praise for Kevin Rudd is at a level that makes it obvious he is being paid for it. 

At the time News Corp was attacking Kevin Rudd relentlessly over Rudd’s “Murdoch Royal Commission” campaign and with Rudd’s links to Jeffrey Epstein all over the media, only 8 months earlier in October 2020, Rudd was in bad need to some positive media spin which Rudd knew he would get from Shanks.

When reading this article it is worth keeping in mind that Kevin Rudd sucker-punched the Australian public with his “Murdoch Royal Commission” campaign and Rudd has since been happily cosying up to Murdoch’s media and Friendlyjordies has been publicly deserted by Labor Party politicians.

Kevin Rudd and the money trail back to Jordan Shanks

Jordan Shanks has a history of being paid to promote the Labor Party so it should be no surprise he is now on the Kevin Rudd money train. (Click here to read more)

And as someone said about Shanks on Shanks’ YouTube channel:

On the 27th of May 2021 former NSW Premier John Barilaro sued Jordan Shanks and Google, owner of YouTube, for defamation and Shanks set up a crowdfunding page to pay for lawyers.

On the 18th of June 2021 Kevin Rudd posted a 900-word post on his personal website titled “Why I donated to friendlyjordies’ legal defence fund”. (Click here to see on Rudd’s website – Click here to see a saved version)

Kevin Rudd then shared a link to the letter on his social media and it went viral as per below:

Rudd’s “X” (Formerly Twitter account) as per below was shared over 1,100 times and liked over 4,500 times: (Click here to see on X)

Kevin Rudd made another post below the one above with Rudd’s full letter attached which was shared 647 times and liked over 2,500 times.

Kevin Rudd also managed to get his 900-word letter posted on the Crikey website on the 21st of June 2021 under pretence of Rudd being a guest journalist. (Click here to see the article)

On Kevin Rudd’s Facebook page, it was shared 762 times and liked over 8,000 times. (Click here to see)

On Kevin Rudd’s Instagram page, it was liked 9,941 times but it doesn’t say how many times it was shared. (Click here to see)

It was also shared widely by many others on other platforms such as Reddit and liked over 600 times. (Click here to see)

Having former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd publish a letter on his website, the Crikey website and sharing it on his social media encouraging his rusted on Labor Party supporters to donate to Jordan Shanks / Kristo Langker in their battle against Labor’s arch enemy, NSW National Party leader and NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, would have raised $100,000’s if not $millions for Friendlyjordies. But Shanks won’t say how much.

What motivated Kevin Rudd to go to all that effort? So he could have access to Shanks audience whenever he wanted and also have Shanks push his propaganda.

I don’t have an issue with Rudd raising money for Shanks legal defence. But how much was raised and where it has gone is very questionable.

Shanks, in February this year, was caught trying to raise more money for his battle with John Barilaro, but Shanks has since said he still has money in his lawyers trust account from the fundraising in 2021. So, why is he raising more money? He wont say.

Probably the biggest issue with Rudd and Shanks “bromance” is that Shanks promotes Kevin Rudd as some sort of hero repeatedly without declaring how much money Rudd donated, or how much Rudd helped raise. And then Shanks makes up lies to attack people such as independent journalists who hold the Labor government to account.

Rudd still makes his money from the Labor Party and gets opportunities because of his association with the Labor Party so Rudd donating and helping raise money for Shanks is not much different if it was done directly by the Labor Party.

Shanks has interviewed Rudd at least 4 times.

21 Feb 2020 – Friendly with Kevin Rudd!

7 May 2021 – Deconstructing Propaganda with Kevin Rudd – Below is a screenshot from the video:

Shanks looks like a lovestruck schoolboy with his legs up on the lounge giving Rudd a platform to push his own agenda. Shanks and and his staff travelled to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland to platform multimillionaire Rudd so Rudd could respond to a Sky News video critical of Rudd. Rudd basically has his own news crew. Did Sugar Daddy Rudd pay for the trip?

9 Mar 2022 – Kevin Rudd Exposes Scomo’s Dirty Tricks

8 May 2022 – Kevin Rudd Slams the Media’s “Outrageous” Election Coverage

Has Jordan Shanks ever declared how much Kevin Rudd personally donated and if he still donates? What about the 2 interviews in 2022 that Rudd did with Shanks? Any declaration then? No!

I emailed 10 questions to Shanks and his lawyers on the 16th of April 2025 with question 10 being:

“Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said, in a published letter on his website, that he donated to Jordan Shanks (AKA Friendlyjordies) “legal fund”. How much did Kevin Rudd donate? Was Kevin Rudd refunded his money given the John Barilaro matter settled?”

Shanks has never answered that question nor question 4 which is, “Can you advise how much in total was raised?”.

Shanks did respond to a few questions, generally with more lies, but he never said how much Kevin Rudd donated or if he still donates which are fair questions given Shanks is an attack dog for Rudd and Labor.

The dodgy “Wombat Trust”

As it turns out Shanks and his lawyers have their snouts in the trough raising money for court cases that don’t exist. On the 16th of April 2025 I asked them:

Jordan Shanks has also raised $81,487, of a targeted $200,000, for the “Wombat Trust” which says on his website “The Wombat Trust is a fund created to help cover the hidden costs like admin and printing that often prevent lawyers from taking on pro bono environmental cases.”

And it says on the crowdfunding page “XD Law Firm will be assisting us with this endeavour.”

Can you advise how much of the money has been paid to XD Law & Advocacy and how much has been paid to other law firms and who are they? (Click here to read more)

Shanks and his Lawyers haven’t responded. The only people I know who raise money for court cases that don’t exist are the fraudsters on social media. Maybe a complaint to the NSW Law Society about XD Law & Advocacy should be made.

Jordan Shanks is not anti-corruption. He is only anti-corruption when the Liberals and Nationals are in power which is the same as the Labor Party. Once Labor is in power, they don’t want to know about corruption and Shanks is the same.

Shanks, who claims to be a comedian, has said in a recent video that I used to be a “fan” of his which is another Shanks lie. That is probably the best joke, and only joke, he has ever told as he is just not funny. 

Jordan Shanks, who is 36-years-old, has the sense of humor of a 15-year-old schoolboy, if that, and his ” comedy” is targeted at people who are drunk, stoned, at school and about to be blocked on social media or rusted on Labor Party supporters who’ll suffer it because they think they are helping the Labor Party cause by doing so.

Kevin Rudd compares Friendlyjordies to Sky News

Kevin Rudd uses Friendlyjordies as his own Sky News to attack political enemies and competitors and Shanks is happy to oblige because the money is good.

So, it was amusing to read where Rudd compared Friendlyjordies to Sky News in a November 2020 article in the SMH which said:

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says controversial Labor YouTuber FriendlyJordies should be treated as a serious journalist and has defended working with the satirist, as NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay appeared to distance herself from him after a week of stunts and off-colour remarks.

Mr Rudd questioned why Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not asked to explain his regular appearances alongside “extremists on the far-right fringe of Sky News” and “conservative provocateurs” such as Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt. (Click here to read more)

So, Rudd compared Shanks to Sky News, Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt. Rudd obviously thinks highly of Shanks. Why didn’t Rudd compare Shanks to other media?

Labor desert Jordan Shanks and Friendlyjordies

Shanks was once a rising star, for about 5 minutes, in the Labor Party for pushing Labor propaganda.

Five years ago Shanks did interviews with federal Labor Party politicians Tanya Plibersek, Kristina Keneally, and four years ago Bill Shorten and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at least 4 times, from 2020 to 2022, as well as a few NSW State politicians.

Shanks has since been deserted by Labor Party politicians which seems to have happened around the time former NSW Premier John Barilaro sued Shanks and Google for defamation on the 27th of May 2021.

Although, Kevin Rudd kept doing interviews with Shanks. But Rudd’s last interview seems to have been on the 8th of May 2022 in a video titled “Kevin Rudd Slams the Media’s “Outrageous” Election Coverage” supporting the Labor Party for the federal election on the 21st of May 2022.

Former NSW Premier John Barilaro’s defamation “case against Shanks-Markovina was settled in November 2021, with Shanks-Markovina apologising in court for allegedly offensive remarks made in the videos.” (Click here to read more)

On the 6th of June 2022, “Google was ordered to pay John Barilaro $715,000 over ‘vulgar’ YouTube videos”. (Click here to read more)

It seems even Kevin Rudd deserted Shanks, at least publicly, when the Google / John Barilaro judgment was handed down. Rudd obviously didn’t want to be associated with Jordan Shanks and his “vulgar YouTube videos”.

The Labor Party have already replaced Shanks with other independent media and journalists which was self-evident during the last federal election campaign. (Click here to read more) But Shanks hasn’t told his supporters as he is trying to milk every cent from them.

Some of Shanks supporters think he is powerful, but he’s not, he’s just a compulsive liar and fraudster, running a smear unit for the Labor Party and his own financial benefit, and that is why Labor Politicians have deserted him publicly while at least some in the Labor Party, like Kevin Rudd, are still supporting him privately.

Given Labor Party politicians have deserted Shanks, as noted by his supporters on Reddit, they have also deserted his supporters. 

If you are a Labor Party supporter and you think you are supporting the Labor Party by supporting Friendlyjordies you are being sucker punched by Shanks and the Labor Party. You are just being used as part of Shanks’ smear unit for the Labor Party and for Shanks’ financial benefit.

Make no mistake, this not a battle between me and Shanks but is part of the battle between the Labor Party and new media (which includes me), who Labor want to silence, and this article is a follow-on from previous publications by me regarding Labor trying to manipulate new media journalists.

I will publish an article and video on Kevin Rudd and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein soon as me raising it recently in emails to Shanks and his lawyers seems to have upset Rudd given Shanks’ recent comments. 

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