Black-listed lobbyist praises Queensland ban review

One of three Labor-aligned lobbyists black-listed by the Queensland government for ‘double dealing’ in election campaigning has applauded the review that led to them being banned.

Former ALP Queensland secretary Cameron Milner. Picture: Tara Croser

One of three Labor-aligned lobbyists black-listed by the Queensland government for “double dealing” in election campaigning has applauded the review that led to them being banned.

Former ALP state secretary Cameron Milner said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was right to sign up to implement to the letter recommendations put forward by public administration expert Peter Coaldrake, including the axing of his access until 2024.

Writing in The Australian, he says: “Professor … Coaldrake, a highly accomplished academic and public administrator, delivered a review that outlined significant and widespread recom­mendations for how to improve transparency and government accountability.

“Coaldrake is no stranger to the Queensland public service, having been part of the original “Goss Squad” of Wayne Goss, Kevin Rudd and the newly anointed head of Prime Minister and Cabinet Dr Glyn Davis. He also counts Wayne Swan as a long-term mate.

“The report deals with matters contemporaneous with the ­period of the Covid-19 response and makes compelling reading.

“Premier Annastacia Palas­zczuk should be lauded for committing to implementing the review’s recommendations in their entirety and to the letter.”

Mr Milner, of Next Level Strategic Services, was black-listed alongside another former state secretary, Evan Moorhead, and one-time ALP strategist and election ad-buyer David Nelson after Professor Coaldrake expressed concern with “dual hat” lobbyists who had recently worked on campaigns.

Mr Milner and Mr Moorhead, the co-founder of high-profile consultancy Anacta Strategies with Mr Nelson, were brought in by Ms Palaszczuk to run her ­successful 2020 re-election ­campaign.

Mr Milner brackets the “seminal” Coaldrake report with the “refreshingly mature approach” by state and federal governments eschewing further Covid-19 restrictions, despite the surge in case numbers.

“We will be a stronger nation as the citizens having entrusted so much to their governments in the past two years can have confidence that lessons have been learnt and how we initially reacted to Covid-19 may now no longer be fit for purpose,” he writes.

“We need to congratulate the collective nerve being held that ‘we can live with Covid’.

“Equally, Queenslanders, having received such an insightful report from Coaldrake, will be watching to ensure the report and all its recommendations are implemented in full and that governments have equally learnt a new approach to delivering on the trust that we the citizens place in them.

“That is, to govern without fear or favour, fair and justly, transparently and for our collective futures.”