Bloodline: The Agnews’ Liberal Legacy

While much of the focus had been on Josh Agnew himself, family ties can also play a role in the business world, and influence where people end up.

These ties can reveal additional information previously missed and inform us of where Josh & his family stands and how he engages in the political landscape.

When researching we uncovered Josh’s family ties, his father being Michael Agnew, and his mother Fiona Onslow-Agnew. The Agnews were established as one of the wealthy and influential rural families in Tasmania, their history dating all the way back to the 1800s with Sir James Willson Agnew, Premier of Tasmania between 1886 to 1887. Sir Agnew’s political history being relatively short however having an impact on Tasmania prior to federation. At the time Sir Agnew was likely considered a non-party, conservative “ministerialist” (supporting the incumbent government/status quo) at the time, as political parties didn’t really come into existence until post federation.

Sir Agnew was a man who prioritised administrative stability, fiscal responsibility, and incremental social improvements and held relatively common political viewpoints of the late 1800s. The successive generations of Agnews leads through the Waverly property, from Sir J.W. Agnew for his son Mr C.S. Agnew all the way to today’s Michael Agnew (Great, Great Grandson of C.S Agnew). Michael and Fiona founded the Waverley distillery in the 90s.

The bloodline echoes a conservative continuity. Sir James’s ‘ministerialism’ (backing the status quo and tradition) mirrors the modern Agnews’ quiet but disciplined alignment with Tasmania’s Liberal establishment.

The Agnew Family

Enter Josh: the 21-year-old media prodigy who launched Pulse FM in 2016, and pivoted it to become Tasmania’s “#1 digital news publisher.” On paper, he’s the disruptor, bootstrapping from Kingston suburbs to NAB spotlights. Dig deeper, though, and the bloodline bleeds blue: a family vault of influence where media “independence” ferments in the same barrel as Liberal loyalties.

When looking into the family Josh’s father makes no attempt to hide his political allegiance, promoting a distaste for Dean Winter & the Labor Party. Michael putting his support behind Liberal Jeremy Rockliff.

“Your Time Will Come Dean Winter MP”

“…The sooner Jeremy Rockliff calls an election the sooner we can get rid of this gloomy, cold and miserable WINTER” – Michael Agnew, June 2025

Josh also appeared to have liked the posts, as well as other content made by his father.

This among other content made by Josh does not help his claims of impartiality and independence when both his family and himself have engaged with liberals to such an extent as our investigation has revealed.

It was also understood from our investigation that Michael (as well as Fiona) appear to have connections with Jane Howlett, Madeline Ogilvie, Marcus Vermey, Bridget Archer and Liberal candidate Richard Hallett.

These connections were verified through Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram, while Hallet’s connection was confirmed with him attending Fiona’s 50th Birthday celebration at the family distillery earlier this year.

We understand that Fiona has also had professional engagements with Labor politicians such as Rebecca White and Jen Butler regarding her enterprise May Shaw Health & Aged Care in 2024.

That business was also set to receive $600,000 in health centre upgrades during the Liberals 2024 election campaign. behind the pledge was then health Minister Guy Barnett and Jane Howlett.

Cases of Government Funding

Recently TDMG was supplied tabled parliamentary papers by tip-off. This report recommends approval of the government’s budget estimates while listing dozens of serious concerns raised by opposition and crossbench members about fiscal management.

On page 150 of the document Kristie Johnston MP asked the government to provide a complete list of all grants, loans and their recipients and all amounts the Tasmanian Development Board has provided over the last two years.

In the list included two eyecatching records, the first being a ≈$2m loan to Easy Tiger Group Pty Ltd, which is owned by Brad Nowland (former Liberal Press Secretary and Deputy Chief of Staff to Peter Gutwein). Mr Nowland also owning Tasman Public Affairs which has Pulse Media Group as a client.

The more interesting record was the inclusion of Agnew Holdings (Tas) Pty Ltd which was offered ≈$1m between FY2024-2025. The business which in traditional searches does not appear, neither in ABN or ACN records. Only through the ASIC website was TDMG able to verify the ownership and connections with the Agnews. The purchased documents confirms that Fiona and Michael are co-owners of Agnew Holdings and that they were in fact offered $1m through their company by the TDB.

TDMG also confirms that this funding is not related to the Liberal’s $600k commitment to May Shaw Health & Aged Care, as Fiona is Executive Director, not owner of the business and thus likely does not fall under Agnew Holdings Pty Ltd.

TDMG cannot confirm whether Waverley Distillery and other Agnew businesses fall under this company, however it is heavily implied.

TDMG also purchased documents regarding Pulse Media Group to confirm ownership and gather further information, however no new revelations or key info was revealed that would be of public interest.

While the grants may have been legitimately obtained, the Agnew’s connections and endorsement of the Liberal party raises concerns of a broader culture of Nepotism/”benefits for mates” environment which sees sympathetic or supportive businesses prioritized for grants rather than other enterprises.

It has been revealed from RTIs by Labor earlier in the year that Pulse has also been the recipient of government grants, specifically the controversial “Enabling Business Grant Program”. Pulse Media Group received $9,678.10 while also reporting on the story. Though a terse disclosure appears two-thirds into their Feb. 8 article (‘including Pulse’), there’s no upfront notice, nor any transparency on the exact amount or how the money was spent, raising concerns about editorial independence and integrity.

This is the second public instance of Pulse receiving a form of financial benefit from the State Government in 2025 (The other being the $35,000 digital advertising package). the concerns raised throughout this entire investigation is if a media outlet credibly “hold the government to account” while accepting financial support from it? In Pulse’s case, this tension is amplified by their role as a key local news provider in a small media market, where they frequently cover political stories, government spending, and accountability issues.

Supporting The Family: Media Promotions

When investigating ties between the Agnew Holdings/Family Businesses and Pulse Media we noticed Pulse covered a story on Waverley distillery in 2023, which led to a form of part promotion. However it was observed that no conflict of interest disclaimer or note was included in the article that Josh Agnew was in fact the son of Michael Agnew.

This raises mounting concerns on Pulse Tasmania regarding it’s adherence to standards set out by the Australian Press Council. The composing of said story can create a personal, financial or emotional stake making a family member’s business look good.

Even if Pulse engaged in fair practices this coverage nevertheless creates a perception of favoritism in the public’s eye, which could raise questions on other potential groups connected with pulse receiving coverage.

There is also a substantial financial conflict from this article, the outlet are effectively profiting from their publication, while boosting sales and revenue for their family members. That’s very close to a paid promotion or staged lineup disguised as news.

When a family member owns/controls the news outlet and another family member’s business is the subject of the story, the public has every reason to assume the coverage is compromised. That loss of trust is why it’s seen as bad practice and in serious journalism, it’s usually considered unacceptable.