‘Open-door’ claim belies Queensland lobbyist growth

Annastacia Palaszczuk says her government has an ‘open-door’ policy with business and community groups, negating the need for lobbyists.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in question time on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Annastacia Palaszczuk says her government has an “open-door” policy with business and community groups, negating the need for lobbyists.

Her assertion is at odds with Queensland’s booming industry, which employs 295 registered lobbyists across 129 firms, employed by 1139 corporate clients.

There are countless more “in-house” lobbyists – those who lobby for the organisation that directly employs them – who are not on the official register.

The industry has expanded since 2009 when Anna Bligh’s Labor government passed laws to better regulate the industry.

At that time, 192 lobbyists were employed across 75 firms whose services were paid for by 700 ­clients.

The Australian has revealed at least two taxpayer-funded entities paid the Premier’s top political adviser-turned-lobbyist Evan Moorhead and his firm Anacta Strategies to help it “engage” with government.

Asked by LNP integrity spokeswoman Fiona Simpson on Thursday how many other ­government-owned corporations or statutory bodies had paid ­Anacta to consult with government ministers, Ms Palaszczuk did not specify.

“Let me say this very clearly: there is no need for anyone to engage with anyone because we have an open-door policy, which means that my ministers are available to meet with any business community or any community organisation at any time they want to,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“All they have to do is put a letter into the office and talk to the diary secretary.

“We very clearly have an open-door policy and no one needs to engage with any government relations person or any lobbyist if they choose not to.”

In late 2019, a few months after Mr Moorhead resigned as the Premier’s adviser, Queensland’s building regulator hired his firm to help it smooth over tensions with Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni.

Former Queensland ALP president Dick Williams, now chair of the state’s Building and Construction Commission board, said he contacted Anacta for help because the government was not treating issues with “the seriousness that it should have been”.

It is understood the QBCC paid Anacta $8000 for the work, which did not need to be disclosed or go to tender because it was under a $10,000 threshold.

In a separate deal, struck with Anacta behind closed doors in January, government-owned renewable energy generator CleanCo also paid the lobbying firm to help it engage the government.

CleanCo has repeatedly refused to disclose the cost of the contract, understood to be at least $20,000, which was overseen by Anacta’s Denise Spinks. She joined the firm last year, two months after resigning as Ms Palas­zczuk’s deputy chief of staff.

In January, it was revealed the Palaszczuk government awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to run its Wellcamp quarantine facility to one of Anacta’s clients without going to tender.

Ms Palas­zczuk defended the decision and repeatedly refused to reveal the cost of the contract.

In parliament, Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie described the use of Labor-linked lobbyists as intermediaries between government and its corporations as “a corruption risk …That is dodgy, absolutely dodgy. There should be a full investigation into Labor lobbying links and donations Anacta has made.”

Anacta has donated $168,875 to the ALP since 2019.