In July last year, a dying man walked into a harshly lit room in Newcastle's Mater hospital and sat down to record a message he hoped would outlive him.
"The only thing worse than losing your life is wasting your life," he began, staring directly into the camera. "My name's Troy Stolz."
The previous year, while litigation was underway, Mr Stolz had been hit with a court-ordered gag order preventing him from criticising his former employer, the powerful gambling industry lobby group, ClubsNSW.
ClubsNSW represents more than 1,000 registered clubs in Australia's most populous state and aggressively protects their rivers of gold: revenue from poker machine losses.
Mr Stolz and the not-for-profit lobby group had been at war since he leaked a confidential board paper written by his boss revealing up to 95 per cent of clubs were failing to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.
The Federal Court suppression order had the effect of preventing him from speaking out further about his former employer.
By the time he entered the hospital room, Mr Stolz had been told by his oncology team that his oesophageal and bone cancer meant he had only weeks, maybe months, to live.
The video he recorded was meant to be the last words of a dying whistleblower; if necessary, a voice from beyond the grave, putting his views permanently and defiantly on the public record after his death.
"Some of you might ask why I've embarked upon this journey," he said in the video filmed by a staffer for the independent federal MP and veteran gambling reform campaigner, Andrew Wilkie.
"It's a pretty high price to pay. But with the support of my family it's been a fight that I would do over and over again.
"Telling the truth may cost me my life very soon.
"I want the truth to come out and I want it to go on record so people see the real truth behind the club and gaming industry."
'What is the real cancer?'
Mr Stolz then delivers a brutal assessment of the industry he was once a part of.
"I might have cancer, but I want every Australian to ask the question, 'what is the real cancer?'" he asked.
His answer: "Gaming machines, the gambling industry and ClubsNSW."
Troy Stolz's secret hospital video has been uncovered by a Four Corners investigation into the power and influence of the multi-billion-dollar club industry and its chief lobby group, ClubsNSW.
Last month Mr Stolz settled his legal cases with ClubsNSW, the terms of which are confidential.
But his story has encouraged another former employee of the organisation to speak out for the first time.
Money laundering was 'common knowledge': former ClubsNSW staffer
Delna Dugdale worked as a corporate governance trainer for the lobby group for six years.
She decided to go public because of the "disgusting" treatment of Stolz.
"The viciousness with which he was pursued … all of this was so unnecessary," she said.
"When you look back on it, I still sometimes sit and go, 'How did this even happen?'"
Ms Dugdale told Four Corners that money laundering in clubs was an open secret, even before Mr Stolz leaked the confidential board paper.
"It was common knowledge that clubs didn't comply [with anti-money laundering rules]," she said.
"We heard first-hand from people in the gaming rooms that this stuff did happen. And when they did report it, a lot of times no action was taken because the person concerned could be one of their top gamers.
"So it came as absolutely no surprise whatsoever, and I guess I was just really puzzled that anybody was even questioning that because it was common knowledge in club land and in ClubsNSW."
Last October the NSW Crime Commission cast doubt on the figures contained in the board paper leaked by Troy Stolz.
It said that "the rate of non‐compliance had likely been significantly overestimated".
But it also found that billions of dollars in the proceeds of crime were put through poker machines in NSW.
ClubsNSW declined to be interviewed by Four Corners, but in a statement said: "ClubsNSW and its member clubs take their anti-money laundering responsibilities extremely seriously … NSW clubs do not want criminals or criminal activity inside their venues."
Labor leader under threat
Despite his ongoing battle with cancer, Mr Stolz is contesting this month's NSW election as an independent candidate in the seat of Kogarah – taking on Labor leader Chris Minns.
Mr Stolz is critical of Mr Minns' approach to poker machine reform.
Mr Minns and the Labor opposition have proposed a trial of mandatory cashless gambling on 500 poker machines, overseen by an expert panel.
""This is a way to ensure that we can get an evidence-based process in place for the panel to look at and provide recommendations to government," the Labor leader has argued.
Premier Dominic Perrottet has backed the Crime Commission's recommendation, promising to introduce a mandatory cashless gambling system if re-elected.
Mr Stolz has now stopped criticising his former employer, but continues to campaign for poker machine reform.
ClubsNSW declined to say if its settlement with Mr Stolz had prevented him from criticising it.
"ClubsNSW is pleased that a mutually agreeable settlement has been reached in the matters with Mr Troy Stolz, with both parties agreeing to terminate legal proceedings," it said in a statement.
"Due to the confidential nature of the settlement, we are unable to provide further details or commentary."
Mr Stolz declined to comment.
Read ClubsNSW's full statement to Four Corners.
Watch the full Four Corners investigation on ABC iview now.
