The gambling industry whistleblower says when he ran against now-Premier Chris Minns in his south Sydney electorate of Kogarah in the 2023 NSW state election, it almost killed him.

“I never spoke about it, I turned up with a smile on my face but I would be back in the hotel for extended periods of time just taking time out and napping,” Mr Stolz said.

“I disappeared after the election for a while and about six months of that I was pretty much laid up in bed in the house, I was exhausted, I had nothing else to give.”

When Stolz ran for what was at the time Labor’s most marginal seat, he did so on a platform of pokies reform, calling out the lack of action on the issue.

In 2020, Stolz blew the whistle on his former employer – lobby group ClubsNSW.

He claims he exposed an alleged lack of compliance with anti-money laundering laws.

He says he spent more than $1 million in legal battles with ClubsNSW, which included actions for breach of confidence and contempt of court, respectively.

A confidential out of court settlement was reached between the parties early last year.

During his legal battles, Stolz was diagnosed with terminal oesophageal and bone cancer.

“When they knew I was suffering it just seemed to escalate the court matters, the sicker I got,” he said.

Still a dying man, Stolz is again pushing to enter the world of politics, this time at a federal level.

He is planning to launch a new political party dedicated to the protection of whistleblowers.

Stolz has recruited another high-profile figure – Jeff Morris – for the political fight.

In 2008, Morris blew the whistle on widespread misconduct in the Commonwealth Bank’s wealth management team.

His contribution helped to trigger a senate inquiry and subsequently the Banking Royal Commission.

The pair, who are both from NSW, plan to run for the Senate.

“Looking from a federal perspective, I’m hopeful I can make a change, I’ve recharged the batteries,” Stolz said.

“We are looking at the Whistleblower Integrity Party, we want to get into the senate and are looking at where we can run, we’ve got some great whistleblower candidates.”

Stolz and Morris know first-hand the psychological and emotional toll that whistleblowers face, and they want better protections for others.

Stolz said, “We spent – my wife and I – about three years in separate rooms, it was extremely volatile in terms of the stability in the relationship, it was like we were flatmates in the house, we had the kids still there at the time but you feel responsible that you brought all this home, it takes impact on your mental health as well.”

He added, “My eldest daughter won’t talk to me, partly as result of the profile and the media attention it drew and she didn’t particularly like that and thought maybe I’d gone too far.”

Morris is dealing with similar scars from his 10-year whistleblowing battle.

“Being a whistleblower generally means by the time it’s over you will be diagnosed with PTSD, you will probably have lost your family, you will certainly lose your job and also your career in your chosen industry… so it’s quite a big sacrifice whistleblowers make,” he said.

Peter Fox, a former Detective Chief Inspector of NSW Police, who made explosive claims of an alleged cover up of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, is supporting Stolz’s political push.

“It’s a David and Goliath battle,” Fox said.

“I don’t shy away from the fact I did see psychologists and psychiatrists for many years after it because of the amount of torment I was put through, nearly every whistleblower goes through that.

“I’m very keen to see a whistleblowers party up and running.”

The group says the current protections for whistleblowers – including the Public Interest Disclosure Act and the Corporations Act – need to be reformed to better support public and private sector whistleblowers.

“The bottom line is the same, it lures whistleblowers into the valley of death that is the legal system where they are pulverised by institutions with very deep pockets,” Morris said.

“We are extremely angry with Mark Dreyfus, the Attorney-General, and Albo [Prime Minister Anthony Albanese] in their position towards David McBride and Richard Boyle, two examples where they could have intervened”, Stolz said.

Stolz and Morris want the Federal Government to establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority.

It’s proposed that would be an independent body tasked with overseeing and enforcing whistleblower laws.

There have been various calls to create such an authority since the 1990s.

The Albanese Government maintains it is committed to delivering strong, effective and accessible protections for whistleblowers.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus referred to recently amended legislation.

“In June last year the Parliament passed priority amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act which ensured immediate improvements to the public sector whistleblower scheme were in place in time for the commencement of the National Anti-Corruption Commission,” the statement said.

Those amendments were said to included stronger protections for disclosers and witnesses, and greater oversight of the scheme by the Commonwealth Ombudsman and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS).

The statement also noted, “These reforms implemented 21 of the 33 recommendations from the 2016 Review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 by Mr Philip Moss AM (the Moss Review).

“The Government has commenced the next stage in progressing its commitment to strengthen the public sector whistleblowing framework and is currently considering the outcomes of a consultation process undertaken in late 2023.”

The Office of the Attorney-General is considering whether there is a need to establish a Whistleblower Protection Authority or Commissioner.

Stolz acknowledges that it’s not easy to register a political party with the Australian Electoral Commission.

One path to do that would require signing up at least 1500 members. Alternatively, at least one member of the party must be a Federal Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

“We just have to work the nuts and bolts out. They don’t make it easy for you to register a political party… it wasn’t easy in Kogarah either but we managed to get that up and I think we are confident we can get this up,” Stolz said.

They will also be hoping the Federal Government does not call an early election.

“While I’m winning the battle on cancer and I’ve still got some oxygen in my lungs I’m keen to go and maybe even get down to Grayndler and run in Grayndler, I’ve always liked Grayndler so you never know,” Stolz said.

Morris said he thinks “the Australian people are ready for a party that wants to restore integrity in Canberra.”