Labor lobbyist’s secret work for troubled casino

Evan Moorhead has been running secret polling for Star Entertainment which is fighting to keep its licence in two states.

Evan Moorhead. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Labor lobbyist Evan Moorhead has been running secret polling for Star Entertainment as part of his undeclared consultancy work for the embattled casino company, which is fighting to keep its licence in two states.

Mr Moorhead was hired by Star’s former in-house lobbyist Alison Smith as early as 2020, to advise the company on how to deal with Queensland’s Palaszczuk Labor government.

He quit as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s director of government strategy months earlier, in May 2019, but insists he is not breaching integrity rules which require a two-year separation between government and lobbying work because he is working for Star as a “consultant”.

And his work with Star does not need to be disclosed on the state’s lobbyist register because it is defined as a consultancy.

The Australian understands Mr Moorhead has been responsible for research and advisory work for Star.

Talbot Mills Research, the research arm of Mr Moorhead’s company Anacta, runs polling, focus groups and tests public opinion for governments and big corporations.

A Star source said he also gave advice about how to “do business” with the Palaszczuk government, how it made decisions, and who were the important players.

Mr Moorhead’s spokesman, Attorney-General Ms Fentiman and Ms Palaszczuk all say Mr Moorhead has not had contact with the government on behalf of Star.

After years of denying he has worked for Star, and refusing to speak about any dealings with the company, a spokesman for Mr Moorhead on Monday confirmed his involvement.

“Anacta has always disclosed lobbying clients and contacts in accordance with the law,” the spokesman said.

“We have had no contact with the government about any casino matters. Mr Moorhead has always complied with his post-employment separation obligations and has acted in accordance with advice from the Integrity Commissioner.”

Mining company New Hope Group severed ties with Anacta in 2019 after The Australian revealed the company was lobbying for state approval of its proposed $900m expansion of the New Acland mine, west of ­Brisbane.

Mr Moorhead had dealt with the New Hope issue while working for Ms Palaszczuk. At the time, he said his Anacta business partner, David Nelson, had handled the state government lobbying for New Hope, although both partners in the firm had shared in the financial benefits.

Mr Moorhead, along with rival lobbyist and fellow former ALP state secretary Cameron Milner, secretly ran Ms Palaszczuk’s successful re-election campaign in 2020 from her government’s headquarters. He is now expanding Anacta into Canberra after Labor’s federal election win.

Asked whether it was appropriate that Mr Moorhead not declare his work for Star on the lobbyist register because he was working as a consultant, Ms Palaszczuk said she had committed to cracking down on the work of lobbyists in Queensland.

“As I’ve said to the people of Queensland, I’m looking at tightening up those requirements around lobbying, I’ve been on the public record saying that, and I’ll have further comments to make after we see Peter Coaldrake’s report (into lobbying) due at the end of June,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Professor Coaldrake raised concerns in his April interim report about the growing influence of lobbyists in the state.

Opposition Treasury spokesman David Janetzki said he was concerned about the close ties between the Labor government and lobbyists.

“Concerningly, every time something murky is happening in Queensland, the relationship between the Palaszczuk government and lobbyists is front and centre,” he said.