‘It was all untrue’: Alan Jones’ protege Jake Thrupp on politics, innuendo and Sydney’s big egos

Flying from Coolangatta to Sydney one morning, Jake Thrupp witnessed a federal government minister doing something appalling.

“He wasn’t reading any papers, didn’t have the newspaper, nothing,” Thrupp recalls. “I thought ‘there’s an hour and a half’. We’re not in holiday mode, it wasn’t summer, it was like a Monday or something. They [politicians] are just so lethargic. I was really shocked about that.”

Thrupp doesn’t like laziness and he sees it all around. He’s a 24-year-old in a hurry – to build a profile, create a new media home for Australia’s centre right and, yes, enter politics himself.

“I was probably a rookie when I moved down [to Sydney]“: Jake Thrupp has been the subject of several gossip columns.Credit: Peter Rae

You may know Thrupp as the bronzed, blonde assistant and producer and protege to broadcaster Alan Jones, a role which, in Sydney at least, thrust him directly into the media spotlight (and in front of the paparazzi’s lenses).

But Jones’ connections have enabled Thrupp to start making his own way as an up-and-coming conservative mover and shaker. His old podcast, A Week With Jake Thrupp, attracted a string of high-profile guests from Josh Frydenberg to Mark Philippoussis, and last year he parlayed those contacts into an anthology of right-wing thought called Australia Tomorrow, with contributions from Tony Abbott, Gina Rinehart and dozens more.

Thrupp’s newest project is Jones’ latest venture Alan Jones Direct to the People, a nightly internet TV program featuring Jones’ customary blend of interviews and commentary that debuted in December and is slated to return at the end of February.

“There are a lot of egos ... I’m sure a lot of people were talking behind my back – I know that for a fact.”

Jake Thrupp on life in Sydney

Thrupp was born in Camden, in Sydney’s south-west, and initially grew up in nearby Campbelltown. When he was eight, his police officer father was transferred and the family moved up to Tweed Heads, where he spent his free time chasing waves off Kingscliff, Cabarita and Byron Bay.

At Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School, Thrupp busied himself with swimming, debating, poetry recitation, surf lifesaving, Sunday mass – pretty much everything available. His parents “were very big on doing extra-curricular stuff ... I didn’t really have time to muck around.”

Jake Thrupp with the anthology of essays he edited, Australia Tomorrow.Credit: Peter Rae

He initially wanted to be a professional swimmer, and it was through state swimming meets that he became best friends with Cody Simpson, the now LA-based triple threat with 4 million Instagram followers who previously dated Gigi Hadid and Miley Cyrus.

But politics was overpowering. Thrupp pinpoints his political awakening as a year 10 trip to Canberra.

“We all sat in the gallery in question time and I just remember so clearly Christopher Pyne up at the dispatch box just absolutely grilling Julia Gillard and all of that frontbench. I just thought they were such a bad government.”

Thrupp joined the Liberal Party not long thereafter, age 16, after being “energised” by Abbott’s 2013 campaign. He first met Jones at Young Liberal events, but they became family friends during the broadcaster’s regular Gold Coast visits for the Magic Millions and Thrupp’s mother later started managing Jones’ Brisbane and Gold Coast properties.

As a law student at the University of Queensland, Thrupp would wake up at 5.30am and drive from Kingscliff, NSW, to Brisbane, and pump himself up for the day by listening to Jones’ breakfast show on 4BC in the car. In 2018, he filled in behind the scenes producing scripts (few of which Jones actually used).

“I was so tired, I was waking up at 3.40am, it was the pits,” Thrupp recalls. “But when you heard the Gloria song play at 5.37am, you were totally energised. You actually felt a sense of mission that you were there for a purpose. Whether you agree with him or not you’re there to influence debate, shape debate and let people have their say.”

He might be Gen Z but Thrupp possesses an old-worldly, town-square vision of how politics should work; high on voter engagement, big on ideas and low on media management. Recently, he was aghast to find an MP’s electorate office hidden away on a backstreet.

“It could not have been in a worse position for the public to enter,” he says. “I drove past it and I thought ‘that is exactly the reason why people do not connect with their MPs’.”

He also complains about the way modern politicians deal with the media – their reluctance to go on air and their demands for an advance steer on the questions they’ll be asked. “I think the political class is at an all-time low. It’s a pretty weak talent pool.”

Thrupp says the country looks “tired” and that our brighter days are behind us. His disillusionment extends to the Liberal Party, of which he is still a member. The Morrison prime ministership has not lived up to his expectations.

“We’re just in power for the sake of being in power,” he says. “At the last election we basically went to the election with no policy agenda, and we celebrated that. That is so mediocre, and I just don’t understand it.”

Alan Jones launches his digital TV offering with Maurice Newman. Credit: Janie Barrett

So, what’s missing? In Thrupp’s view, the government should be pushing for nuclear power, easing the squeeze on housing prices and development and advocating free speech. He’s loath to attack Morrison personally. “I can’t say much. I just think he should read the book [Australia Tomorrow]. That should be his summer reading.”

Thrupp is clear about his ambition to enter politics but realistic about the time frame. “I’m not ready yet. Maybe in 10 or 15 years,” he says. Until then, he wants his new media venture to be an antidote to the lacklustre and “vanilla” state of modern politics. So far, Australian Digital Holdings, which is registered to his mate Jack Bulfin, looks like little more than a financial vehicle for Jones’ return to the airwaves. But Thrupp has a grand vision.

“We think we will be the home of the centre right,” he says. “We’re going to give the people what they want, and it’s going to be the more direct version. It’s going to be all about the talent.”

Jones is the outfit’s “inaugural broadcaster”, Thrupp says, but they plan to field a full night-time lineup within a year. “We’ve got our eyes on a few broadcasters, and we hope to recruit more who have a very trusted following. What we’ll do is we will empower them to say what they want, without being fringe or anything. We just want sensible, centre-right opinion.”

Jake Thrupp with Alan Jones and guests at the broadcaster’s farewell boat party after his final 2GB show in 2020.Credit: Rhett Wyman

I suggest it sounds like they’re going after Jones’ old audience at “Sky News after dark”, though Thrupp insists ADH isn’t competing with anyone and will be “a new thing”. He says the money is coming from a variety of private backers. The outfit is chaired by retired business figure Maurice Newman – “he is a super patriot”, says Thrupp – while high-profile barrister Margaret Cunneen is also involved.

I put it to Thrupp that many people would scoff at a 24-year-old who just happened to be family friends with Alan Jones setting up a digital media platform, professing to know what Australians want and lecturing the government to do better. He’s familiar with the scepticism.

“There’s a misconception out there that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” he says. “And I’m thinking: hang on, my dad now drives trucks and my mum isn’t in a full-time job either. My first job was at 13 at Gloria Jeans. I’ve always worked hard and studied. There’s a lot of people out there who just don’t really work and don’t want to work.

“That’s the good thing about Australia. I was born in Camden, early childhood in Campbelltown, moved to Tweed Heads. And yet here I am sitting here with you.”

The boy from Tweed Heads via Campbelltown feels a strong affinity with Queensland, “where you just take people at their word”. But he had a hard time adjusting to Sydney when he moved three years ago and started working closely with Jones and appearing in gossip columns, especially because of the sexual innuendo that coursed through much of the reporting.

“I was obviously repulsed by it,” Thrupp says. “It was something that was also obviously completely untrue. I think it’s amazing how in Australia people struggle to understand that, yes, people have patrons. It’s actually a very common thing ... I know many people in the media who wouldn’t have had a start if it weren’t for [Jones].

“It’s obviously upsetting that people put their minds in the gutter ... I struggled with that because I had family members reading this stuff, and here I was having to be on the phone with them. They knew Alan had taken me under his wing and they were so grateful that he would do such a thing, and yet here was this sort of reporting where it was like ‘oh, there must be something going on’.

“It was all untrue at the time, and it’s still untrue now, and I’ve moved on. You can’t not be thick-skinned in this industry and city.”

Thrupp is torn about Sydney. It has been good to him in many ways; he has become well-connected in conservative circles and recently bought a two-bedroom art deco apartment in Double Bay, near Redleaf Beach (he was surprised to see the purchase written up in the newspaper).

But it’s also “a very cut-throat town”, he says. “There are a lot of egos and a lot of people who aren’t honest to your face ... It was my first experience out in the limelight. I’m sure a lot of people were talking behind my back – I know that for a fact.”

Thrupp feels he has been the victim of Australian tall poppy syndrome and a good dose of ageism. He compares this to when he visited Cody Simpson in Los Angeles and saw how Americans were universally supportive of his then teenage friend. He has learnt jealousy is “rampant” in Australia.

“I was probably a rookie when I moved down [to Sydney],” Thrupp says. “I was thrown in the deep end, that’s for sure. I’ve definitely hardened. I’m fine now, I can cop anything.”

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