Logs show Labor lobbyists bask in favoured access to Queensland government

Analysis of Queensland’s official lobbying contact log shows three Labor-linked firms secured 70 per cent of all meetings granted to lobbyists by the ­Palaszczuk’s government.

Annastacia Palaszczuk and her deputy Steven Miles. The Queensland Premier insists Labor-linked lobbyists have no inside running with her government. Picture: Lachie Millard

Three Labor-linked firms secured 70 per cent of all meetings granted to lobbyists by Annastacia ­Palaszczuk’s government, exposing favoured access for those who helped on election campaigns.

Analysis of Queensland’s official lobbying contact log shows three firms, Anacta Strategies, Next Level Strategic Services and Hawker Britton, secured 1241 of the 1756 introductions and meetings with MPs, their staff and government bureaucrats since Ms Palaszczuk was returned for a third term in 2020. Two of these are owned by former ALP state secretaries Cameron Milner and Evan Moorhead, who were brought in to run Ms Palaszczuk’s successful 2020 election campaign from her CBD office.

The pair headed election strategy for Labor ahead of the ­October 31 poll as they continued to lobby government on behalf of corporate clients, some of which were the subject of announcements by Ms Palaszczuk and her ministers just before and during the campaign.

Since Mr Milner and Mr Moorhead helped return the Premier to office, Anacta and Next Level have become two of the most popular lobbying firms in Queensland.

Former ALP state secretary Cameron Milner is now director of Next Level Strategic Services, one of three lobbying firms receiving favoured access to the Queensland government. Picture: Tara Croser

Hawker Britton has operated as a Labor political campaign specialist across Australia, and its Queensland arm is headed by former Palaszczuk government staffer Elliot Stein.

Between the three, they have averaged 14 meetings with officials from the Palaszczuk government each week since October 2020.

Revelations by The Australian about the dual role of lobbyists who help political parties win elections was highlighted by professor Peter Coaldrake in his interim ­report into culture and accountability in the Palaszczuk government, released last week.

Ms Palaszczuk, however, continued to insist on Thursday that Labor-linked lobbyists had no inside running with her government.

Since the election, Anacta has had 544 meetings with government officials, including the offices of the Premier, Deputy Premier and Treasurer.

Ms Palaszczuk helped officially launch Mr Moorhead’s Anacta in 2019, three months after he resigned as her chief political strategist. It has since become the state’s go-to lobbying firm, acting on ­behalf of 57 clients, some of whom have scored massive contracts and financial incentives from the Labor government, including Downer Group, Glencore and Aspen Medical.

Former state secretary Evan Moorhead at ALP headquarters during an election campaign. Picture: Annette Dew

Last week, The Australian revealed Anacta co-founder and Labor campaign veteran David Nelson has a senior backroom role on Anthony Albanese’s federal campaign.

Mr Milner’s Next Level, co-owned by former Howard government staffer David Moore, has had 212 meetings with the Palaszczuk government on behalf of corporate clients, while Hawker Britton has had 585.

The relationship between Ms Palaszczuk’s government and lobbyists has been at the centre of an ongoing integrity debate. In his interim report Professor Coaldrake, who restructured the Queensland public service in the late 1980s, raised concerns that lobbyists’ involvement in election campaigns had undermined public confidence in government decision-making.

He said there was a perception that the way to obtain government access and contracts was to “engage the services of one or two particular lobbying firms who carry out the vast majority of lobbying activity in Queensland”.

Asked on Thursday if Labor-aligned lobbyists have an easier time gaining access to government, Ms Palaszczuk said: “No.”

She would not be drawn on concerns raised about the dual roles of some lobbyists – acting for clients to influence government, then acting for political parties to help win elections. “I think we can tighten up some of those guidelines but there is a very strict lobbyists code of conduct that anybody who is working on a campaign has to abide by. The problem would be if they were not complying with that code.”

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mr Milner was paid by Labor for his involvement in Ms Palaszczuk’s re-election campaign. Mr Milner was a volunteer to the campaign. Mr Moorhead’s lobbying firm, Anacta, was paid a monthly retainer by the Labor party for work ahead and during the campaign.