Former Labor minister accused of adding house renovations to government tab

AN LNP MP has used parliamentary privilige to accuse a former Labor minister of having $26,000 in “major renovations” at his house added to the State Government tab.

A FORMER Labor minister and party powerbroker has been accused of having his house painted and having the $26,000 bill added to the State Government tab.

In an extraordinary speech in Parliament today, member for Burleigh Michael Hart accused former minister Robert Schwarten of having “major renovations” done on his houses by companies he said were part of the JM Kelly group.

The Sunshine Coast Daily reported eight of the 10 powerful JM Kelly Group companies went into liquidation last week with two others, JM Kelly Builders and Kawana Kitchens, in administration.

“Of real concern is the allegation that Rob Schwarten had major renovations done to his Rockhampton houses by JM Kelly in 2009 and 2011,” Mr Hart said under Parliamentary privilege.

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Public works meeting at Sharks AFL club at Parkwood. Public Housing Minister Robert Schwarten at the meeting.

“In particular I’m told a JM Kelly contractor painted his Kinka Beach house, known around Rockhampton as the beach hospital, and the cost of that contracting work, around $26,000 was not paid by Schwarten but was added as a variation to a government contract.

“I’ve heard this from a number of credible people in central Queensland and both the government and Mr Schwarten have some very serious questions to answer about this.

“These questions are deserving of a thorough and rigorous examination to get to the bottom of things.”

Mr Hart started off his speech by saying he’d raised the issue of JM Kelly Builders in Parliament on Tuesday.

“I foreshadowed this was a murky matter and there was more to come,” Mr Hart told the house.

“Since speaking on Tuesday further information has been received from multiple sources and deserves to be raised here today.

“I urge anyone with information about this issue to contact me.

“The ministers I mentioned on Tuesday, the members for Keppel and Rockhampton have all had an opportunity in this house to rebut what I had to say but they haven’t and that tells me we are on the money.

“The people who have contacted me have raised some very concerning issues in addition to the ones I raised on Tuesday.

“What action was taken by HPW (Housing and Public Works) to inform other state and local government agencies about the issues with JM Kelly Builders?

“Why did state government agencies such as the department of education and training choose to ignore the risk and award this company in major projects while housing and public works were investigating them?

Member for Burleigh Michael Hart. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

“What financial assurances were given by JM Kelly Builders during the tender process and were these thoroughly checked before they were awarded government contracts?

“What roles did members like the member for Keppel play in this sorry saga and I table an email showing she knew all about this issue.

“What were the circumstances around Rob Schwarten’s involvement with JM Kelly and his subsequent appointment to the industry regulator QBCC?”

Mr Schwarten slammed Mr Hart’s comments as nothing but “lies” and challenged him to repeat them outside the protection of Parliament.

He said the claims were not just a false slur on him as a former minister and member of Parliament but also the public servants who would have had to put through the change to any contract.

He said JM Kelly had not done any work on any of his homes except the installation of a small bathroom window louvre, which he could prove.

Mr Schwarten said he was actually a JM Kelly creditor, having paid $223 for some bathroom mirrors in the days before the collapse.

Mr Schwarten said he would be writing to the Speaker and was also considering contacting the CCC.