Liberal lobbyist Simone Holzapfel said her work on King’s Forest campaign is not lobbying

CONFUSION remains over the role of Liberal lobbyist Simone Holzapfel in campaigning for the new Tweed Hospital to be built at the $5 billion dollar King’s Forest development.

Simone Holzapfel. Pic Mark Calleja

CONFUSION remains over the role of Liberal lobbyist Simone Holzapfel in campaigning for the new Tweed Hospital to be built at the $5 billion Kings Forest development.

Ms Holzapfel has vigorously denied she is lobbying for billionaire Bob Ell’s Leda Group, which is behind the project.

A website registration search confirms Ms Holzapfel registered kingsforesthospital.com.au and kingforesthospital.com on May 22 this year, using her company Shac Communications’ ABN and email address.

A Facebook page and newspaper advertisement and signage using the same artwork from the website has also been circulated in the campaign, which is pushing for the $534 million hospital to be built at the development.

Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced in April the hospital would be built on potato farming land at Cudgen, a location that has met with opposition from farmers and others.

Kingscliff real estate agent Louise Beahan told the Bulletin Leda had provided funding for the Kings Forest Hospital campaign.

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Hayley Paddon with supporters including Dora and Marshall from Paw Patrol at a King’s Forest Hospital campaign day. Photo by Richard Gosling

Ms Holzapfel would not answer questions about whether or not she or someone else from her company Shac Communications had placed advertisements, created artwork or made a Facebook page for the Kings Forest Hospital campaign.

She declined to detail what arrangement, if any, her company had with Leda.

“I don’t have to have a conversation with you about any of my clients,” she said.

“There’s no public benefit to a conversation about me and the clients I provide services for — any of them.”

Mr Ell said Ms Holzapfel was “supportive” of the half-billion project being moved to his development, but declined to say whether or not she had his financial backing.

“She seems to be supportive of the Kings Forest site,“ he said.

“The whole of the Tweed seem to be supporting Kings Forest apart from 20 or 30 greenies down there.

“It’s a zoned site, ready to go and it has been chosen by the State Government for the last 30 years.

“The site they’ve picked is just ridiculous.”

When quizzed earlier this month, Ms Holzapfel said she was supporting the campaign “for some Kingscliff locals that want the hospital” there.

“I built a website for Louise and that’s it. I was introduced to Louise through a friend.”

A screenshot of the Support Kings Forest Hospital website.

The website Ms Holzapfel registered encourages the public to contact local MP Geoff Provest, Ms Berejiklian and Health Minister Brad Hazzard, providing templated email messages and a pre-filled government form for the hospital’s public consultation period.

Neither Ms Holzapfel nor her company is a registered as a lobbyist for Leda Developments in New South Wales or Queensland.

Under NSW laws, lobbying is defined as communicating with a government official for the purposes of representing the interests of others for a range of purposes which include planning applications and government decisions.

Staff of Ms Berejiklian would not comment on whether or not she’d ever met with anyone from Shac.

A Leda spokesman yesterday said another lobbyist, Sydney-based Willard, had been engaged on the Kings Forest campaign for the group.

Willard principal David Miles said his company had no involvement with the Kings Forest Hospital website, artwork, social media or advertising.

“None at all,” he said.

Shac’s current lobbyist clients include developer Sunland, builder ADCO Structures and Logistics casino proponents ASF and developer Golden Gate Properties, which has proposed a $200 million tower for Surfers Paradise.

Shac also produced a campaign for ASF, via a community group named Better Our Spit, during the Queensland Government’s public consultation for that project.

That campaign also comprised a website, Facebook page, advertisements and other marketing collateral.

Property developer Bob Ell. Picture: Lea Emery

Ms Holzapfel is listed on the NSW Electoral Commissions lobbyist register through another of her entities, Trustee for the Shac Trust, which was suspended as a lobbyist for 43 days from December 19 last year until to January 31 this year.

The electoral commission could not provide a reason for the suspension. The commission said information about Leda not appearing on the current register would be taken into account during a “compliance review”.

“Registered third-party lobbyists are required to update the information in the lobbyists register,” the commission said in a statement.

“The NSW Electoral Commission is not aware of The Trustee for The Shac Trust representing Leda Developments.”

Registered lobbyists have 10 days to update information in the register to avoid receiving formal warning, suspension or cancellation of their registration, or placement on the Lobbyists Watch List.