Kate Jones quits but lobbying firm Akin gets more clients and meetings

Former senior Queensland minister Kate Jones was forced to quit her role at a lobbying firm, but that hasn’t stopped the company increasing its contact with the state Labor government and picking up new clients.

Kate Jones, in sailor hat on left, at the Akin Agency Christmas party. Akin Agency's registered lobbyist, Alex Dickson, is on the right in the striped shirt.

A lobbying firm linked to former Queensland minister Kate Jones has picked up two new clients and increased its contact with the Miles government, after the Labor figure and rugby league commissioner was forced to quit the company under an integrity cloud.

Akin Agency, which boasted former tourism and state development minister Ms Jones as a “specialist consultant” until her resignation last month, now has 10 paid lobbying clients in Queensland, including an electric vehicle recharging company, ­eLumina Pty Ltd, and the Children’s Hospital Foundation Queensland, added on March 19.

The state’s lobbying register shows the firm also represents the Tech Council of Australia, of which Ms Jones is executive ­director.

Records show the agency’s sole registered lobbyist, Ms Jones’ former ministerial staffer Alex Dickson, has also stepped up his lobbying activity on behalf of clients including casino billionaire Chris Morris’s Smart Parking Limited, and Brisbane entertainment precinct Howard Smith Wharves.

Ms Jones was not a registered lobbyist with the firm and denies any wrongdoing. She quit Akin on March 5 after The Australian revealed she had set up meetings with her ex-government ministerial colleagues for at least one company that later became a registered lobbying client of Akin’s.

“I was not employed as a lobbyist and was not paid to undertake lobbying activity,” she said at the time, insisting she was ­engaged by Akin to provide “professional services relating to strategic communications and media advice”.

“I will step down from undertaking any further work for the agency as I do not want this work to be an ongoing distraction for my other board responsibilities and charitable work.”

Photographs of rugby league commissioner Ms Jones still feature heavily on the Akin website, including a picture of her with former prime minister Kevin Rudd, next to text that says Akin “offers a comprehensive suite of services to elevate your organisation and level of influence”.

Former Queensland Minister Kate Jones and ex-PM Kevin Rudd. Picture: Akin Agency.

The public records show Mr Dickson invited a senior Environment Department official to the launch of the Howard Smith Wharves tourism sustainability policy in March, and lobbied the office of Transport Minister Bart Mellish for Smart Parking Limited, to “discuss government policy on transport and main roads driver data”. Mr Morris is non-executive chairman of the ASX-listed company.

One of Mr Dickson’s earliest lobbying efforts was setting up a meeting in early February with Mr Mellish for Smart Parking managing director Paul Gillespie and international business development director Ben Williams in an attempt to get his support for a “new framework for the parking sector and regulations” relating to access to the data.

Mr Dickson has also lobbied senior public servant Michelle Bauer, the deputy director-general of Queensland’s State Development Department, on behalf of eLumina to talk about the government’s $350m industry partnership program, which doles out taxpayer funding to renewable energy, critical minerals, battery industry and recycling projects.

Last month, Akin Agency managing director Kate Lord said her company was a public affairs agency and complied “with all government ­requirements, including with the Queensland ­Office of the Integrity Commissioner”.

She said Ms Jones was ­“employed as a specialist consultant who provides advice on a range of matters including innovation, sport and technology” and Mr Dickson was “employed through our standard recruitment process”.