WA Liberals want probe into Burke’s links to $22.3 million grants program

The state opposition has called on the Cook government to audit millions of dollars in grants handed out to the live entertainment industry during the pandemic to probe whether any taxpayer money ended up going to former Labor premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke.

The Getting the Show Back on the Road assistance package secured by Live Entertainment WA saw $22.3 million worth of grants paid to entertainment businesses to keep them afloat as the industry collapsed during the pandemic.

Former WA premier Brian Burke.

Live Entertainment WA paid Burke and his business acquaintance Frederick Suhren consultancy fees for their efforts in helping the group during the pandemic.

The Cook government remained adamant its ministers adhered to a ban on contact with Burke that was put in place after a 2007 Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry into lobbying that cost the jobs of several Labor ministers but made no adverse findings against Burke.

Opposition culture and the arts spokesman Peter Collier told 6PR on Monday that Suhren met Commerce Minister Sue Ellery and Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman during the pandemic.

Suhren is also an old acquaintance of Cook, who conceded he spoke to him from time to time.

Collier said the government needed to probe the grants program.

“There were 374 applications for those grants, 178 were successful, what we want to know is to have a look through the acquittal process, whether or not the criteria for getting those grants was having a connection with Brian Burke and his partner, Mr Frederick Suhren,” he said.

Successive Labor government leaders since Alan Carpenter in 2007 have banned ministers from speaking with Burke after the CCC inquiry.

Burke confirmed on 6PR that he was paid a consultancy fee which was paid to him by clients he had helped but was not aware where they pulled that money from. He also said Suhren met with the government during the pandemic, with groups of other stakeholders.

“I received no money from the government whatsoever and the consultancy fee that I was paid was relatively modest,” he said.

“I can only say that it came from the organisations that I advised or assisted.

“When they received funding from tickets from government grants, from sponsors and advertisers, they paid their bills, not just to me, but to a range of people.”

Burke warned continually dragging him into the public discourse would lead to embarrassment for both parties.

“It’s almost as though when the children won’t go to bed, they say, ‘If you don’t do as you’re told, we’ll bring Mr Burke around to frighten you.’ It’s reached an absurd state,” he said.

“People should concentrate on the value, the advantage or disadvantage of the policy, it doesn’t suddenly become a bad policy because I had something to do with it.”

Burke said it was unreasonable in this case to expect Cook to know he was involved in the background of Live Entertainment WA.

Cook deflected questions about his relationship with Suhren on Monday, but reiterated his government would not have any dealings with Burke.

He said the government did not ask for the backgrounds of the groups it was negotiating with.

“We don’t ask who they’ve who they’ve conducted business with. We work directly with these groups to make sure we get good public policy outcomes,” he said.

Burke sent an email to all MPs on Friday afternoon lashing the opposition for its continued attacks on him and revealed he had spoken to members of the opposition frontbench in recent years.

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