Political staffers’ forced leave for a good cause, and LNP MPs party hard

Queensland Labor staffers will be forced to take leave to attend a party fundraiser. But it’s a different set of rules for their bosses.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in question time at Parliament House in Brisbane on Thursday. Picture: Dan Peled

Talk about leading by example. Not.

The Queensland Premier and cabinet ministers who front next month for a midweek cash-for-access fundraiser with business leaders will be paid for their time, even though this is clearly a party political occasion.

But staffers who have to carry their bosses’ bags, stroke their egos and take notes of all they say (and promise) will be forced to take unpaid leave … because it could be a bad look!?!

The different rule for the help might come as a surprise to those many loyal, often talented staffers but that’s the news coming from the Premier’s office when Chooks asked the question on behalf of an outraged reader.

Earlier this week, The Australian revealed that the $5500-a-head, October 6-7 event will be kicked off with an opening night cocktail party with the Queensland Premier, federal and state MPs, followed by a day of promised “networking” and briefings from state ministers.

Billed as the centrepiece of the “Queensland Labor Business Partnership Network” program, it’s all for a good cause — to help pay for the federal Labor election campaign in Queensland.

The program has raised more than $450,000 since late year.

ALP state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell won’t return calls about what sort of bang business leaders get for their buck.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office claimed staffer numbers would be limited by Covid restrictions but “if staff do attend, they will take appropriate leave”.

Seems strange, as there have been plenty of staffers running around the parliament all week.

And on the pollies, who this month got the first part of a 6.5 per cent pay rise over the next year, the spokesman said the Premier and ministers already work long and “irregular hours, including on weekends”.

“You’re so vain”

You have to hand it to the state opposition, they know how to throw a party.

After the first sitting of parliament this month, some in the Liberal National Party frontbench joined former leader Deb Frecklington to celebrate her 50th birthday at Ben’s Vietnamese & Chinese restaurant, a BYO karaoke eatery in Woolloongabba, in Brisbane’s inner south.

David Crisafulli, who replaced “Freckles” after the disastrous October election defeat, was unable to attend as he was apparently tied up in an interview with Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

The former leader and her successor aren’t exactly close, with Frecklington suspicious he was ready and waiting in the (parliamentary) wings when LNP HQ attempted their failed coup d’etat last year.

But the Chooks couldn’t help wonder if she had anyone particular in mind when Frecklington took to the stage and delivered a heartfelt rendition of Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain, with backup vocals from Amanda Camm.

Cheering her on from the dancefloor were her closest colleagues, Tim Mander, Jarrod Bleijie and Tim Nicholls.

While Chooks couldn’t get a copy of the Frecklington footage to share, the restaurant did put up a video on their Facebook page of Bleijie.

A committed jive dancer, the former attorney-general gave quite the hip swivelling Elvis impersonation.

Happy Thursday Karaoke @ Bens💝

Posted by Ben's Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant on Thursday, September 2, 2021

Others in attendance, who were too scared to take the microphone after Bleije’s performance, included Jon Krause, Jim McDonald, Pat Weir, Tim Nicholls and Andrew Powell.

The real party got started after dinner when the gang kicked on to the Port Office Hotel — a notorious watering hole for politicians, their staffers and lobbyists.

Awkward for Freckles and the gang, because Labor Transport Minister Mark Bailey and ALP state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell were already there.

“There were some sore heads on Friday,” an insider told the Chooks.

Education and Racing Minister Grace Grace, left, has been mixing her portfolios. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Students off and racing

Queensland kids jockeying for the best education could get more than they bargained for under the tutelage of Education Minister Grace Grace.

The Education Department’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025, released this year, has left some eagle-eyed educators scratching their heads and wondering whether the runaway minister needs to be reined in.

Listed alongside ambitious ideals such as “A great start for children”, “Every student succeeding” and “Building Queensland communities” is this bizarre entry: “A sustainable racing industry in Queensland”.

“I love horse racing … but this is really weird,” one long-time teacher told the Chooks.

Apparently it’s not a mistake and has something to do with the additional portfolios of Grace, who is also Minister for Racing and Industrial Relations.

Given the moral debate about horseracing and the sensitivities about exposing children to the industry, it seems the minister’s flogging dead horse on this one.

Succession planning

Hidden in the LNP’s voluminous and sometimes dense report into its state election defeat last year is a warning to those thinking of moving on not to delay.

Former LNP MP Mark McArdle has given advice on retirement planning. Pics Tim Marsden

Among the 50 recommendations by Senator Paul Scarr and recently retired Caloundra MP Mark McArdle to do better next time is a suggestion that retiring MPs should provide “as much notice as possible (18 months is a guide)” so that the party can choose appropriate successors to “manage an orderly transition”.

Not that the 16-month retirement heads-up McCardle gave the party helped his would-be successor, Stuart Coward, in winning the seat of Caloundra last year.

Labor’s Jason Hunt picked up the blue ribbon seat with a swing of almost 6 per cent.

But the need to address retirements and plan succession is understandable, given the LNP lost all three of the electorates in which its MPs retired in 2020 (Caloundra, Hervey Bay and Pumicestone).

We’ll keep our ears and eyes peeled for any exodus in April 2023.

Miles of endurance … and a little opposition flex

Perhaps used to doing the heavy lifting for the government on its voluntary assisted dying legislation, Steven Miles has clearly honed his core strength, if a recent social media call-out by Di Farmer is anything to go by.

Farmer told her followers that the Deputy Premier’s name ended up on the record board at her local gym when he popped in for a workout.

Miles held the plank position for two minutes, 26 seconds — a reasonable time compared to the rest of the board.

Farmer herself managed one minute.

Speaking of the gym, it seems David Crisafulli is keen to beat his chest about his own muscle-building exploits.

The Opposition Leader blamed a big workout session for a recent active wear outburst against the Premier and the government’s struggling border crossing exemption unit.

“A bit worked up after the gym but this needed to be said,” Crisafulli wrote on Twitter, above a video of his blow-up.

The Chooks reckon Crisafulli might be a cardio guy, compared to weightlifter Miles.

A bit worked up after the gym but this needed to be said.

Get 'em home. pic.twitter.com/EJ57Aa8qaC

— David Crisafulli (@DavidCrisafulli) September 10, 2021

Clash of the commissions

For weeks there have been whiffs of something going on around the offices of Integrity Commissioner Nikola Stepanov and that of the Public Service Commission, headed by its CEO, veteran bureaucrat Rob Setter.

On Wednesday, Annastacia Palaszczuk was grilled in parliament by the state opposition and while dodging most of the politically charged questions, eventually confirmed “matters” had been referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Extraordinary stuff given the roles of both offices.

Stepanov is charged with being the ethical adviser to pollies, senior public servants and political staffers — usually on questions of conflict of interest — and managers the lobbyists’ register.

The PSC oversees the public service’s leadership, decision-making practices and appointments.

One of the allegations before the CCC is that PSC staff were able to enter the locked offices of the Integrity Commissioner and seized laptops … and deleted some records.

Palaszczuk didn’t refute these allegations when put to her, saying: “I understand from my department that certain matters have been referred to the CCC and it would not be appropriate for me to comment any further on those matters.’’

If you recall Stepanov last year told The Australian — in its “Mates State” series of articles, which revealed that lobbyists Evan Moorhead and Cameron Milner ran the ALP state election campaign from Palaszczuk’s office — that she had little resources and no power to investigate wrongdoing by lobbyists.