Queensland election: Premier Palaszczuk puts heat on Deb Frecklington over fundraiser claims

Annastacia Palaszczuk demands Deb Frecklington explain who she met at campaign fundraisers.

Queensland Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington. Picture: Sarah Marshall

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called on Deb Frecklington to give a full explanation about who she was meeting with at campaign fundraisers.

It comes after the Opposition Leader denied allegations that her own party referred her to the Electoral Commission of Queensland, as she characterised the party’s raising of the matter with the agency as “seeking advice”.

As she visited the regional electorate of Maryborough, held by Labor with a slim margin of 2.5 per cent, Ms Palaszczuk said: “These are matters that the leader of opposition needs to explain.”

“There needs to be a full explanation about exactly who she was meeting with, why she was meeting with them,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “There is a ban on property developer donations going to political parties.

“That was a ban that my government proudly introduced.”

Treasurer Cameron Dick accused Ms Frecklington of fobbing off questions about fundraisers, as he claimed her party was leaking against her.

“Dysfunctional Deb Frecklington’s campaign has been derailed by her own party,” Mr Dick said. “Deb Frecklington is a reckless leader who can’t or won’t take advice and puts Queenslanders at risk as a consequence.

“She is leading a dysfunctional party and her dysfunctional leadership is exactly what Queensland doesn’t need.

“If you can’t lead your party, you can’t lead Queensland.”

An LNP spokesman today insisted that the allegation was false, saying the party regularly communicated with the ECQ to ensure it complied with the Act.

Frecklington denies she’s been referred to electoral commission

Deb Frecklington has denied allegations that her own party referred her to the electoral commission after concerns were raised about the possibility of illegal property developer donations finding their way into party coffers.

The embattled Opposition Leader also denied she had appeared at functions to seek donations from developers, saying she attended dinners and meetings with a wide range of business leaders but did not expect donations from them.

She said she was unaware of any investigation or referral to the Electoral Commission Queensland about the matter and characterised the party’s raising of the matter with the agency as “seeking advice”.

“Any donor who donates to political parties, must complete a declaration form, it’s on the ECQ (website) for all to see,” Ms Frecklington said.

“I attend dinners all the time, I’m a politician, I attend supporters’ dinners, of course I do.

“It’s on the ECQ website that prohibited donors can attend fundraising events, they just cannot donate.”

Asked whether developers had been encouraged to donate to the LNP via third parties, Ms Frecklington said, “absolutely not”.

She denied the party was aware of any allegations or evidence that it had received donations from developers via third parties.

She also denied LNP state director Michael O’Dwyer had warned her about the issue before she attended a dinner at the home of property developer Nic De Luca.

The Australian understands the LNP has submitted an 11-page document detailing the concerns to the ECQ, which Ms Frecklington said she was unaware of.

“The party routinely seeks advice from the ECQ because the donation laws that we put in place by the Labor party are complex,” she said.

“There are various matters that the parties advises me they have sought ECQ advice for.”

The accusations that property developers had illegally donated was first revealed by The Australian last month.

It was also revealed on Monday that Ms Frecklington had met with property developers at a business leaders forum and boasted about her campaign, in concert with Scott Morrison, for Queensland’s borders to be reopened in July.

Ms Frecklington said she stood by her integrity and turned the heat back on Labor party ministers who have been investigated over corruption complaints.

“The Labor party has been plagued by integrity scandal after integrity scandal,” she said.

“The premier of Queensland has been found in contempt of parliament, the first premier in Australia to do so.”

LNP ‘in discussions’ with ECQ over Frecklington

The LNP is in “ongoing discussions” with the Electoral Commission of Queensland, after revelations Opposition leader Deb Frecklington hosted fundraisers attended by property developers who are banned from making political donations.

LNP campaign director Lincoln Folo this morning issued a statement denying a report on the ABC, which said the LNP had been forced to refer Ms Frecklington to the ECQ over the events.

“The ABC’s allegation that the LNP has referred Deb Frecklington to the ECQ is false. It has not,” Mr Folo’s statement said.

“The LNP regularly communicates with the ECQ to ensure that we comply with the Act.”

The ABC reported that Ms Frecklington, along with senior Queensland LNP federal minister Peter Dutton, hosted a number of fundraisers attended by property developers. There’s no evidence those developers made donations to the party.

At least one of the events was hosted at a home of a property developer.

The Australian revealed last month that the LNP had breached state electoral law by hosting at least one prominent Brisbane property developer, part-owner of the Brisbane Broncos Phil Murphy, at a fundraiser.

Mr Murphy donated $1565 which he said was later refunded by the LNP.

The incident forced LNP state director Michael O’Dwyer to write to MPs and candidates to warn them about involvement with “prohibited donors” that could put the LNP “at risk” and cruel its chances at the October 31 election.

On Monday, The Australian reported that Ms Frecklington has regularly been secretly meeting with property developers and discussing her campaign financing issues with the businessmen.

At a June 24 meeting of her ‘business advisory forum,” she also boasted that her ‘open the borders’ campaign – run in “co-ordination” with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison – had been her top achievement to date.

A spokesman for Ms Frecklington said: “Anyone who donates to the party must complete a declaration that they are not a prohibited donor.”

“Any donations of $1,000 or more in a reporting period are disclosed on the ECQ website,” he said.

“There is transparency about who has donated and who hasn’t donated.”

LNP may scrap developer donor ban

Liberal National Party leader Deb Frecklington has not ruled out scrapping a ban on property developer political donations if she wins the October 31 election, after it was revealed she secretly met banned donors to discuss campaign financing struggles.

The Australian reported on Monday that Ms Frecklington on June 24 met property developers banned from making political donations to brief them on her election strategy, major achieve­ments and campaign challenges.

In leaked agenda documents from the regular meeting with the “business advisory forum”, Ms Frecklington boasted that her top achievement was her “open the border” campaign, which she said her state LNP team had been running “in co-ordination with the Prime Minister”.

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Labor Deputy Premier Steven Miles leapt on the revelation on Monday, accusing Josh Frydenberg, Scott Morrison, Ms Frecklington and the state LNP of lying about working together on attacking Labor’s border closures.

“They have been co-ordinated throughout this entire pandemic, we have evidence dating back to June which shows just how co-­ordinated Scott Morrison and Deb Frecklington have been,” Mr Miles said.

He said Ms Frecklington and the LNP needed to “guarantee no dollars changed hands for that exclusive briefing”.

Ms Frecklington has said the meeting was not a fundraiser.

Last month, the federal Treasurer called Mr Miles a conspiracy theorist for suggesting he was co-ordinating with the Prime Minister’s office and the LNP on the borders criticism. “Clearly he has been proven to be dishonest here, and he should apologise for those statements,” Mr Miles said.

Asked whether she would keep laws prohibiting property developer donations if she won, Ms Frecklington said: “I’ve not announced or said anything about that.”

Additional reporting: Michael McKenna, Charlie Peel