Labor MP Jim Madden investigated for buying artwork with taxpayer funds
Labor has asked the Queensland parliament to investigate claims under-fire MP Jim Madden used taxpayer funds to buy a butterfly artwork for his girlfriend.
Labor has asked the Queensland parliament to investigate claims under-fire MP Jim Madden used taxpayer funds to buy a butterfly artwork for his girlfriend at a special school charity auction.
ALP state secretary Kate Flanders referred the allegations to state parliamentary clerk Neil Laurie after The Australian asked her questions about Mr Madden’s purchase of the artwork.
Former Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli was convicted of fraud in 2019 for using council funds to buy items – including artworks, a football jersey, a bicycle and “pamper packs” – from charity auctions, but the decision was overturned on appeal the following year.
Facebook messages seen by The Australian reveal Ipswich West Labor MP Jim Madden texted his then girlfriend Sarah Grist from the auction at the Claremont Special School on September 14, 2018, saying she could choose one of two pictures he had just bought: a butterfly or an emu behind a fence.
A picture on the school’s Facebook page for the butterfly artwork, entitled Angel World by Oisin, shows the winning bid was $125 from a Jim Madden.
Ms Grist chose the butterfly picture, and he dropped it off to her at her home on September 25.
By November, Mr Madden had asked for it back. “He said he needed it back for a bit … he elaborated about it being bought accidentally on the wrong credit card, so it was bought with public funds on his office card, and with the spotlight on that sort of stuff, he needed it back,” Ms Grist said.
She said Mr Madden later gave her a smaller framed photocopy of the original butterfly artwork.
In May 2018, the Crime and Corruption Commission charged Mr Antoniolli with seven counts of fraud, alleging that when he was a councillor he used Ipswich City Council’s community donations fund for his own use to buy auction items from charities.
Mr Antoniolli’s purchased artworks and football jersey hung in his divisional office, the pamper packs were regifted to other charities, and the bicycle sat in his garage unused.
He was found guilty in August 2019, but his convictions were overturned in December 2020, with a District Court judge finding Mr Antoniolli believed the purchases were allowed by council policy as long as he did not benefit personally.
Mr Madden has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Asked by The Australian about Mr Madden’s purchase of the artwork, Ms Flanders said she would ask Mr Laurie to probe the matter.
“I will refer this matter to the clerk of the parliament for further investigation as it is outside my jurisdiction,” Ms Flanders said.
Acting clerk Michael Ries said “the clerk, as accountable officer, takes all complaints about the use of entitlements seriously and will investigate appropriately when received”.
“There are detailed acquittal requirements, audit systems and records in place,” he said. “No complaint (from the ALP) has been received to date.”
Ms Grist was one of three people to speak publicly about their experiences with Mr Madden in interviews published by The Australian on Monday.
She alleged her former boyfriend, Mr Madden, who made her call him “Sir” during their years-long relationship, paid for her ALP membership, coerced her to take on executive roles in his State Electoral Council branch that she did not feel capable of doing, and told her how to vote.
Former electorate office staffers Alison Young and David Stone also made allegations of bullying and harassment against Mr Madden, who was elected to parliament in the safe Labor seat of Ipswich West at the January 2015 election at which Annastacia Palaszczuk swept to power.
The ALP ordered an internal investigation into Ms Young’s formal complaint of bullying. Despite the report finding 22 breaches of party rules by Mr Madden, Ms Flanders decided in February the MP should not be expelled from the party and instead should receive one-on-one anti-bullying and harassment training.
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