Lobby firm owner granted access to Nationals centre of power

Lobbyist firm owner Larry Anthony, on Clive Palmer’s payroll, has been sitting in on federal Nats partyroom meetings.

Nationals president Larry Anthony with business partner and two-time federal LNP candidate Malcolm Cole. Picture: Jerad Williams

Nationals president and lobbyist firm owner Larry Anthony — who is on Clive Palmer’s payroll — has been sitting in on federal Nationals partyroom meetings where government business is discussed, causing concern among parliamentarians of a perceived conflict of interest.

Mr Anthony’s business partner and two-time federal LNP candidate Malcolm Cole quit the Queensland Liberal National Party state executive in July after federal and state MPs criticised the apparent “conflict” between his influential party role and working for political rival Mr Palmer and other clients.

But Mr Anthony, as federal Nationals president, cannot be forced off the LNP’s governing body, despite simmering tensions about his dual role and longstanding relationship with Mr Palmer.

Clive Palmer. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

Both Mr Anthony and Mr Cole — who co-own SAS Consulting Group — have been involved in overseeing federal, state and local election campaigns and preselections in their roles in the LNP and National parties.

Several Nationals parliamentarians said Mr Anthony had been regularly ­attending partyroom meetings or telephone hook-ups, in which sensitive government issues were discussed by senior members of the government, including cabinet ministers and the Deputy Prime Minister Michael ­McCormack.

One senior Nationals MP told The Australian he understood there had been a “complaint” about Mr Anthony being on a ­recent telephone hook-up of the partyroom, and conceded it would be up to Mr Anthony to “recuse himself” if a matter was discussed involving a client of SAS Consulting.

Another senior Nationals MP described the situation as ­“unsavoury”.

In his resignation letter to the LNP state executive in July, Mr Cole said he wanted to “address the elephant in the room”.

“I do not feel, and have never felt, conflicted between any of my clients and my voluntary work for the LNP.”

Mr Anthony, a minister in the Howard government, removed himself from the lobbyist register when he was elected as Nationals president. It followed the introduction of party rules in Queensland, and later adopted among Liberal and National parties in other parts of Australia, that banned lobbyists from holding ­official party roles. In an interview with The Australian, Mr Anthony said he had been invited to the partyroom meetings by Mr McCormack and chief Nationals whip Damian Drum.

Asked whether he passed on government information to clients, he said there was “not too much government information that comes through the National partyroom”.

“I talk to cabinet ministers a lot of the time about party stuff, it’s not uncommon,” he said. “I think I’ve displayed myself and have acted totally in the highest propriety in this role, for a very long time, in a lot of conflicting issues within the party. There’s no ­rocket science or anything ­ulterior here.”

SAS Consulting Group’s clients have included resources giant Santos, cashless welfare card developer Indue — of which Mr Anthony was a director — agricultural chemical company Nufarm, Sunset Power, New Century resources, train manufacturer Bombardier and property developers Sekisui House and KTQ Developments. The company has done communications work for Mr Palmer’s companies for years.

LNP members have been uneasy about senior party figures’ links to Mr Palmer, whose United Australia Party is running against the LNP at the October 31 Queensland election.

Asked whether he had discussed the October 31 state election with Mr Palmer, Mr Anthony said: “I think everyone’s discussing the election with everyone at the moment. I’ve certainly got nothing to do with his campaign.”