Steven Miles would consider giving Integrity Commissioner Linda Waugh investigative power
Queensland’s Integrity Commissioner has made stark admissions on the rise in lobbyists and their links to the Miles government ahead of the October election.
QLD Politics
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Premier Steven Miles would consider handing investigative powers to Queensland’s Integrity Commissioner Linda Waugh, who on Monday declared there was “lots of lobbying” going on outside the scope of her powers.
Amid fresh questions about the state government’s links to lobbyists, Ms Waugh on Monday noted increasing lobbying activity was occurring in Queensland ahead of the October state election.
“There’s lots and lots of lobbying that can go on that’s outside of the scheme and I have no function or responsibility in relation to those,” she said.
“I might have views about lobbying … but in terms of what I can do and what my function is, my function is to regulate registered lobbying.”
Mr Miles faced questions about his government’s record on integrity matters and whether investigative powers should be granted to the Integrity Commissioner to probe allegations of unlawful lobbying or “dual-hatting” – where a registered lobbyist is involved in the election campaign of a political party during an election period.
“I’d be happy to look at a proposal, but we have some of the best and strongest integrity laws in the country and I stand by them,” Mr Miles said.
The comments come after the LNP separately called for the Integrity Commissioner to investigate links between former minister Kate Jones and a lobbying firm set up in December.
Mr Miles said on Monday that he believed Ms Jones, who privately agitated for Annastacia Palaszczuk’s removal as premier, should not be prevented from joining government boards despite reports of her close ties to a lobbying firm.
“Provided the laws are being complied with, then she's done nothing wrong,” he said.
The Australian on Saturday reported Ms Jones had a link with Akin Agency, which was registered as a lobbying firm on the Queensland registry on December 8 – just days before Ms Palaszczuk quit politics.
The Canberra-based firm lists the former tourism minister and current NRL commissioner on its website as a “specialist consultant” as part of its team. She is not listed as a lobbyist on the registry connected with Akin Agency.
Ms Jones quit politics in 2020 but is known to still have a close bond with serving MPs and is regularly spotted in the corridors of parliament.
Akin Agency and Ms Jones have said they complied with all government requirements, regarding lobbying.
Separately, Mr Miles said lobbyists could be involved in grassroots party politics. “I think there’s a role they could continue to play,” he said.
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