Dangers everywhere for pollies at the Ekka
Welcome back to another edition of Feeding the Chooks, where too much Queensland politics is never enough.
IT’S SHOWTIME
The westerly winds have returned to Brisbane which means it is time for city slicker politicians to dust off their token Akubras and RM Williams boots and get a snap with a farmer at the Ekka.
It is the perfect hunting ground for pollies to press the flesh with the oh-so-important “regional Queenslanders”.
But dangers are everywhere (just ask Peter Dutton).
There’s an unofficial LNP ban on eating dagwood dogs at the show after Dutton’s snack time went viral.
But that did not stop Gold Coast MP Sam O’Connor sneaking one in.
The Chooks hear O’Connor managed to nibble the fried delicacy after the shadow cabinet met at the Ekka on Friday morning, but was smart enough not to be photographed.
And it’s the first time in many years that the LNP has not had a stall at the annual show (apparently it was too expensive).
Their usual spot has been taken by the Clown Doctor. Make of that what you will.
END OF AN ERA
In sad news for former Labor staffers hoping to make a buck by cashing in on their relationships with ministers and their staff, the crackdown on influence has begun.
New lobbying training for ministerial staff started last week as the days of unfettered access to the state’s decision-makers draws to a close.
Or so we hope.
Even though the state’s Integrity Act has prohibited former staffers from lobbying the government for two years after they leave their taxpayer-funded jobs, that did not stop more than a few from taking up work as “consultants” at lobbying firms.
Under new rules anyone working at a lobbying firm is now deemed a lobbyist.
Officials have had to log their contact with lobbyists for years but the nature of meetings are more often than not listed under broad reasons such as “introduction”, “other” or “commercial-in-confidence”.
On recommendations from Peter Coaldrake’s public service review, ministerial staff have to fill out a new form after every meeting, with much more specific options listed in a drop down menu.
Staffers also have to include a “short description of the subject matter of the meeting”.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Change is afoot in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s inner sanctum of advisers.
As reported by Chooks last week, veteran Nine reporter Lane Calcutt is joining the fray as the Premier’s new principal adviser.
We have learned this week that Calcutt will be replacing Chris O’Brien who has been with the Palaszczuk government since 2018.
O’Brien, who spent more than 30 years as a reporter including 16 at the ABC, will migrate to Canberra in October to be closer to ski fields.
O’Brien’s departure follows another one of Palaszczuk’s media advisers, Jack Harbour, who quit after the federal election to join Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ office.
Turnover in the Palaszczuk’s office is nothing compared to the movement in the digital team, responsible for curating the Premier’s social media persona.
At least nine people quit the team in the 12 months to April.
Peter Coaldrake may have to do a separate probe into what is going on in the social squad.
GREEN IS GOOD
Speaking of the digital team, The Chooks can’t help but notice the new social push on the government’s environmental credentials in the wake of the federal election.
Brisbane cemented itself as Greens heartland at the May poll when they recorded mammoth swings towards them in three inner-city seats.
The party easily captured the South Brisbane seat of Griffith from Labor’s environment spokeswoman Terri Butler and Coalition-held seats of Brisbane and Ryan.
Federal success comes after the Greens won their first Brisbane council division and two state parliament seats in just the past six years.
The trend puts a number of Labor seats – including McConnel, Bulimba and Cooper – at serious risk.
But all the photos of wind turbines and the Premier cuddling koalas won’t change the fact the government’s emission reduction target is now lagging behind the federal government and neighbouring states.
The Palaszczuk government’s emission reduction target is 30 per cent by 2030, behind Anthony Albanese’s federal goal of 43 per cent which was legislated last week.
Both NSW and Victoria have ambitions to cut their state’s emissions by 50 per cent cut by 2030.
Climate change warriors are seizing on the situation.
Environment group WWF are running advertisements in the elevators at 1 William Street – government HQ in Brisbane City – that read “Queensland you can lead the way in becoming a renewable energy superpower”.
And the Queensland Conservation Council has erected billboards in the Premier’s Inala electorate calling for more renewable projects.
UPSTAGED
Robbie Katter has been bitten by the showbiz bug and cannot get enough of the stage.
After lapping up the accolades for his performance of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues at the Hughenden Music Festival last month, Katter was back in the spotlight.
A buzzing crowd at the notoriously rowdy Mailman Express, held annually on the Thursday night before the Mount Isa Rodeo, went bananas when Katter took to the stage to perform his karaoke staple.
LEFT RIGHT OUT
Who needs enemies when you’ve got friends (and factional allies) like these?
It turns out it wasn’t just the coal mining industry that was blindsided by Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick’s royalty hike.
Mines Minister Scott Stewart was also left in the dark by Dick about his plans to lift the coal royalty rate, to take advantage of super profits being raked in by the state’s mining giants.
In a late-night estimates hearing last week, Stewart confirmed he was not briefed by Treasury about the proposed changes until June 7 – days after Dick told Queensland Resources Council boss and former federal Liberal Minister Ian Macfarlane of his intentions.
Correspondence between Dick and Macfarlane shows they met on May 26, after which Macfarlane sent a strongly worded letter warning a royalty increase would be “unwarranted” and would risk Queensland becoming “uncompetitive for future major thermal and metallurgical coal investment”.
In response to a question from opposition MP Pat Weir, Stewart said: “I met with the Treasury department after I asked the Treasurer what the proposed royalties scheme may look like. I was briefed on the Tuesday of the same week, 7 June.”
And he ran far away from taking any responsibility for the proposal.
“No, I did not propose them. That is a matter for the Treasurer.”
CANARY IN THE COALMINE
Staying down the mines, the embattled Anglo American is the major sponsor for the annual Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference, this year held at the (also controversial) Star casino on the Gold Coast.
Anglo knows a fair bit about health and safety. You might recall five miners were terribly burned in a gas explosion at Anglo’s Grosvenor underground coal mine in central Queensland in May 2020, after years of warnings about dangerously high methane levels.
At Moranbah North, another Anglo operation, a worker died after suffering head injuries in a lifting accident in March.
And just last week, another worker at Moranbah North was helicoptered to hospital when his foot was caught in a steel door. That incident is being investigated.
Anglo says it takes safety seriously and has implemented everything it has had to since the board of inquiry into the Grosvenor disaster.
But there are questions about what the rest of the industry has done in response to the explosion.
Mines Minister Scott Stewart will next week order the parliamentary Transport and Resources Committee run the ruler over whether the sector has done its bit.
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