Contractor’s attendance at Labor fundraiser raises cash-for-access concerns

A government contractor’s attendance at a Labor fundraising dinner has raised integrity concerns ahead of Saturday’s election.

Minister Mick de Brenni addressed the fundraising dinner. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

A cyber security company awarded a $15m government contract paid $2500 to attend a Labor Party fundraising dinner with minister Mick de Brenni on the night tenders for the contract closed.

While there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr de Brenni or the company, the incident has prompted transparency experts to demand an overdue tightening of Queensland’s cash-for-access laws by whichever party forms government after Saturday’s election.

Membership of Labor’s business roundtable program, linking executives with ministers, costs $10,000 each year while the LNP’s similar program, Solutions Queensland, costs $25,000.

On September 30, just hours before the government entered caretaker mode, Cryptoloc Technology was named by Small Business Minister Lance McCallum as the successful tenderer to roll out a $15m government program to boost cybersecurity protections for small and medium-sized businesses.

On July 23, the day tenders for the contract closed, the company paid $2500 to attend a dinner with Mr de Brenni as part of the Queensland Labor Business Roundtable cash-for-access program.

Despite the company being in the running for a lucrative government contract, detail of its attendance at the dinner – along with some 20 other businesses – was not disclosed in Mr de Brenni’s diary because it was a political party event.

“Minister de Brenni was a guest speaker at the Queensland Labor Business Roundtable,” spokesperson for the minister said.

Cryptoloc Technology could not be reached for comment before deadline.

The incident has raised renewed questions, however, about the undisclosed contact between ministers and businesses through Labor’s business roundtable and the LNP’s Solutions Queensland programs.

Cryptoloc Technology donated $102,735 to Labor and $60,000 to the LNP since 2021.

Of the donations to Labor, including $18,040 on August 2 for a post-budget lunch, annual membership of the Queensland Labor Business Roundtable and “fundraiser with PM”.

Griffith University’s A.J. Brown

Griffith University professor and Transparency International Australia chair A.J. Brown called on Labor and the LNP to commit to tightening their cash-for-access schemes.

“It’s always been one of the great festering holes in any healthy political integrity regime,” he said.

“It’s cash not just to facilitate access, but to basically curry favour.

“It should appear transparently in ministerial diaries.”

Prof Brown said the Labor government and retiring Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath had done some very good things for transparency, including introducing real-time donations disclosure in 2015.

However he argued both major parties’ cash-for-access programs were about fundraising rather than improving policy.

“If it’s really access for the purposes of influencing public policy and decision making and informing it (cash) shouldn’t go to the party, it should not be a fundraiser,” he said.

Greens MP Michael Berkman has been a long-time opponent of the major parties’ practices, declaring in Parliament that cash for access was legalised corruption.

Originally published as Contractor’s attendance at Labor fundraiser raises cash-for-access concerns