Annastacia ­Palaszczuk’s lobby links plot thickens

Queensland’s taxpayer-owned renewable energy company is paying one of Annastacia Palaszczuk’s former top staffers to give advice on how to ‘engage’ with the government.

The new role for Denise Spinks, centre, new role has raised questions over rules designed to stop former ministerial staffers from cashing in with insider government knowledge.

Queensland’s taxpayer-owned ­renewable energy company is paying one of Annastacia ­Palaszczuk’s former top political staffers to give advice on how to “engage” with the government.

Despite being set up by the Palas­zczuk government, state-owned CleanCo has signed a ­secretive contract with Labor-aligned lobbying and consulting firm Anacta to provide training and advice on government and stakeholder engagement.

Denise Spinks, hired by Anacta just two months after she resigned as Ms Palaszczuk’s deputy chief of staff in September last year, is in charge of the contract.

Her new role has raised questions over rules designed to stop former ministerial staffers from cashing in with insider government knowledge.

Anacta has been at the centre of integrity-related issues over its close ties with the Palaszczuk government after it was revealed the firm’s founding director, Evan Moorhead, ran the Labor ­campaign out of the Premier’s CBD office ahead of the last state election.

Several of Anacta’s clients were the subject of approvals and lucrative government contracts announced by Ms Palaszczuk during the campaign.

Mr Moorhead has denied any wrongdoing.

Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Tertius Pickard

CleanCo refused to disclose how much it was paying Anacta.

In a statement, CleanCo said it had hired Anacta this year to help engage with stakeholders, which includes shareholding ministers, Treasurer Cameron Dick, Energy Minister Mick de Brenni and a suite of energy generators, most of which are owned by the state.

“CleanCo engaged Anacta Strategies in February 2022 to provide advisory services to support us to develop our stakeholder engagement function,’’ the company spokeswoman said.

“We have not engaged Anacta to engage or communicate with any party on our behalf, or ­execute any of our stakeholder engagement activity.”

Mr de Brenni confirmed he met with Ms Spinks in February.

“We discussed the importance of renewables and CleanCo and no lobbying activity took place,’’ he said.

Griffith University law professor and Transparency Inter­national Australia board member AJ Brown said it could be appropriate for state-owned corporations to pay consultants for stake­holder engagement help but it would “seem a bit odd” if advice was focused on government ­relations.

“The need for the company and its shareholding ministers to prove this contract is a justifiable expense is increased because of the government’s cosy relationship with Anacta, which has been becoming ever more apparent since the 2020 state election campaign,” he said.

Under the government’s post-employment policy, Ms Spinks is forbidden from conducting business meetings with state representatives on “any matter which (she) had official dealings with” during her time as a political staffer, for 18 months after leaving her role.

She is also banned from carrying out lobbying activities relating to matters she was privy to in her taxpayer-funded role. Ms Spinks is employed by Anacta as a “consultant” and not a lobbyist.

In a statement, Anacta said: “Anacta Consulting was engaged by CleanCo to provide consultancy services on corporate ­affairs. We have previously recei­ved advice from the Queensland Integrity Commissioner confirming that consultancy services to state agencies does not constitute lobbying or business meetings.”

Ms Spinks was elevated to the Premier’s office after being heavily criticised in the 2017 investigative report into the “Mangocube” scandal over her use of private emails to correspond with union bosses in the state-owned energy sector. A recently released report from former state archivist Mike Summerell, kept secret by the government for more than four years, was critical of Ms Spinks “disturbing” frequent use of back channels while working for then energy minister Mark Bailey.

Mr Summerell said Ms Spinks “would have known this was against the official policy”.

Last week, acting chair of the Crime and Corruption Commission Bruce Barbour said he was concerned about lobbying firms appointing people to non-lobbying roles in a bid to avoid scrutiny.

Mr Barbour told a hearing of Queensland’s parliamentary economics and governance committee there was a “serious and urgent need to reform lobbying laws” to better regulate the industry in Queensland.

“An entity that wishes to avoid lobbying restrictions may simply engage a lobbyist in what may be categorised as a sham employment arrangement in order to circumvent lobbying laws,’’ he said.

Anacta is headed by Mr Moorehead, a former state ALP secretary who worked in Ms Palas­zczuk’s office until 2019, and Labor campaign veteran David Nelson.