Cold shower no dampener to state spending on mates

Back in the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era, when the premier junked daylight saving after some of his followers complained it would fade the curtains and upset the cows, passengers flying into Queensland from the south were occasionally told by pilots to set their watches back a century and one hour. Six weeks from the October 31 election, “The Mates State” is in another time warp. Post Fitzgerald, ICAC and the creation of registers of MPs’ interests and lobbyists, the world has changed. Politicians are expected to be more accountable and transparent in their wheelings and dealings than in years past — in theory at least. Members from all sides have paid a high price for falling down. But Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose friendly, homespun style endeared her to many voters initially, seems blithely unaware that she and her government are taking the public for mugs by letting Labor mates and ex-staff on to the government gravy train at taxpayers’ expense.

Ms Palaszczuk and her office have repeatedly insisted she relies solely on advice from Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young in making decisions about COVID-19 restrictions. Last month, Ms Palaszczuk’s spokesman even denied that the government had polled Queenslanders’ views about border closures. But as Michael McKenna and Sarah Elks revealed on Wednesday’s front page, Labor has spent $528,000 of taxpayers’ money on polling voter sentiment about COVID restrictions. And in May the Premier’s office awarded Labor strategist and KPMG partner Mike Kaiser a $275,000 contract to help craft the state’s COVID-19 economic recovery. Mr Kaiser is a former Queensland MP, party official and chief of staff to premiers Anna Bligh in Queensland and Morris Iemma in NSW.

On the other side, as Elks and McKenna report, former federal Nationals MP Larry Anthony and unsuccessful Liberal candidate Malcolm Cole, who own lobbying and communications firms, have secured unbridled access to the conservative side of politics. In the arcane world of Queensland politics, both work for Clive Palmer. Mr Anthony, the federal Nationals president, is on the Liberal National Party state executive. Mr Cole recently quit the state executive after complaints by federal and state MPs over perceived conflicts of interest.

Governments and political parties need professional advice. Ex-MPs, ex-staff and party officials are entitled to earn a living. And in fields such as lobbying and economic consulting, their experience and contacts are often an advantage. The question is who should pay them. In the case of political campaigns, that is political parties. It is reasonable that taxpayers foot the bill for government work — preferably after a competitive tender process, with full disclosure to parliament through annual reports. Transparency is vital in deciding whether such expenditure is in the public interest or about feathering mates’ nests. Last year the Queensland government spent more than $300,000 on external consultants, including Mr Kaiser, Nicole Scurrah — another of Ms Bligh’s chiefs of staff, who works for PwC — and others to help prepare the state budget. As Under Treasurer Frankie Carroll told the state’s budget estimates, using consultants was “normal practice”. What was more problematic was former Queensland treasurer Jackie Trad’s public service razor gang, charged with slashing spending on consultants, hiring Ms Scurrah to advise on how to cut $200m from the bureaucracy in the 2019-20 financial year. Ms Scurrah’s Whistler ski chalet hosted Ms Trad and her family, and fellow cabinet minister Shannon Fentiman and her partner, for a holiday. And former ALP state secretary Evan Moorhead, the Palaszczuk government’s chief of strategy, quit the Premier’s office last year and has since landed 32 clients as a lobbyist to government while also being on a retainer for the ALP.

Given the central role COVID management will play in the campaign, and controversy about the border shutdown, market research on the subject is highly political. The government has refused to say whether polling company Ipsos Public Affairs — paid $528,000 in May and June — asked voters about the border. A spokeswoman admitted the pollster was engaged “to conduct market research and sentiment testing to ensure the government’s COVID-19 public information and behaviour change campaigns were effective, achieved value for money and were evaluated”. Ms Palaszczuk should release the findings.

On Wednesday, she told critics to “have a cold shower” because “every other state is asking a whole range of questions about how people are feeling about being in lockdown and coming out of lockdown”. Perhaps. But apart from Western Australia, the nation’s other hub of parochial provincialism, their elections are years away. Ms Palaszczuk claims the research done will not help her electorally. That is a matter of opinion. But she was too cute by half when asked about Mr Kaiser, claiming she “did not know who you’re talking about, sorry” after a reporter slightly mispronounced his name. To jog the Premier’s memory, he was the KPMG partner at a high-level strategy meeting near the Sunshine Coast last year, with Ms Palaszczuk and ministers, to discuss re-election campaigning. As mates go, he is hardly that forgettable.