Controversial Labor heavyweight Jim Soorley has become embroiled in a potential conflict of interest by taking a “consultant” job at a water-technology company while it did business with a ratepayer-backed water utility he chaired.

The dual roles for Mr Soorley, a former lobbyist and Brisbane lord mayor, were never detailed in publicly available annual accounts for council-owned Unitywater. It came to light only via due diligence documentation for another role obtained exclusively by The Australian Financial Review.