Qld integrity report: Premier claims lobbyists not needed by business

Downplaying the impact of lobbyists on her Government, Annastacia Palaszczuk says businesses need “just write in”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has told Queensland businesses they don’t need to employ lobbyists to meet with the Government, while saying enlisting lobbyists to help run political campaigns had been standard practice for decades.

Responding yesterday to Professor Peter Coaldrake’s indictment on the perception of lobbyists wielding influence over the Government, Ms Palaszczuk said businesses could meet with ministers by “writing in”.

As an example, Ms Palaszczuk said she was “going to a big Somalia event on Saturday; they wrote in and invited me”.

“It’s very simple. They just write in, they just write in,” she said.

“This is how people get in to get meetings with ministers, they write.

“I have said businesses do not need to employ lobbyists, I cannot be any clearer.

“They do not need to employ lobbyists to meet with my Government.”

Prof Coaldrake called for a number of changes to the dealings between government and lobbyists, including the extraordinary suggestion Labor-aligned lobbyists such as Evan Moorhead and Cameron Milner shouldn’t be lobbying during this term of government after working on the 2020 election campaign.

In a key recommendation of the report, Prof Coaldrake wrote there needed to be “explicit prohibition of lobbyists ‘dual hatting’ as political campaigners”.

He also noted any individual who plays a substantive role in the election campaign of a prospective government “should be banned from engaging in lobbying for the next term of office”.

Despite this, Ms Palaszczuk yesterday did not rule out her government continuing to deal with the likes of Mr Moorhead and Mr Milner during the remainder of this term.

“He has said it’s prospective, but cabinet will be considering this report on Monday,” she said.

Former ALP state secretary and chief political adviser Mr Moorhead co-founded lobbying firm Anacta with Labor-aligned political consultant David Nelson in 2019.

Denise Spinks, Ms Palaszczuk former deputy chief of staff, joined Anacta in March this year.

All three worked on the 2020 campaign.

Mr Milner, a previous ALP state secretary and former chief of staff to Bill Shorten, is a director of Next Level Strategic Services, and was also called in to work on the 2020 election campaign.

Ms Palaszczuk said the practice of employing lobbyists during political campaigns “has been the practice for many years, in fact, many decades”.

“But there would be every campaign from both political parties across the nation, including federally, that have employed lobbyists during the campaign.

“What I’m saying now ... is that we accept the recommendations.”

On Monday, the eve of Prof Coaldrake’s report, Ms Palaszczuk announced the definition of lobbying would be expanded to include people who work at lobbying firms, including consultants, advisers and communication specialists.

Ms Palaszczuk said the change would come into effect within the next month, with any requests for meetings with a government official also need to be made in writing, and through a minister’s chief of staff.