Queensland Liberals seek integrity call on Labor lobbyist links

Queensland’s opposition has called for the Integrity Commissioner to investigate the links of Kate Jones to a lobbying firm set up as Steven Miles became Premier.

Queensland’s opposition has called for an investigation into the links of former minister Kate Jones to a lobbying firm set up as Steven Miles became Premier. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland’s opposition has called for the Integrity Commissioner to investigate the links of former Labor cabinet minister Kate Jones to a lobbying firm that was set up as Steven Miles became Premier.

Liberal National Party spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said there were “serious questions to answer” by Mr Miles, elected last December as Premier in a partyroom vote with the factional assistance of Ms Jones.

It was revealed by The Weekend Australian that Canberra-based public relations and lobbying firm Akin Agency – for which Ms Jones is a “specialist consultant” – had expanded into Queensland, registering eight clients just a day after the factional deal was struck for Mr Miles to replace Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Ms Jones’s involvement with the firm is absent from the firm’s mandatory declaration on the Queensland Lobbyist Register or mentioned on her LinkedIn page.

The firm’s only registered lobbyist, Alex Dickson – Ms Jones’s former ministerial staffer and policy adviser – also failed to declare his work history as a former senior official in the government.

Maroochydore MP Fiona Simpson.

Ms Simpson accused Mr Miles of trying to play down revelations about the lobbying firm and Ms Jones’s high-level access to the government by saying it was no secret he was a long-time friend of the former tourism minister.

“The Coaldrake review delivered a damning assessment of Labor’s cosy relationship with lobbyists and it’s clear nothing has changed under Steven Miles,’’ Ms Simpson said.

“For Steven Miles to suggest there’s ‘nothing to see here’ because Kate Jones is a personal friend shows Labor’s arrogant belief the rules don’t apply to them.

“Queenslanders will rightly be wondering how far Kate Jones’s influence goes within this Labor government and how it is being used. The lack of transparency demands answers, not excuses that they’re just mates.”

On Saturday, when asked about Ms Jones’s links to the lobbying firm and details of her organising meetings last year between companies and ministers, Mr Miles said he was “bemused” by the report in The Weekend Australian. “It’s not front-page news that I’m friends with Kate Jones – we’ve known each other since we were teenagers, we’ve grown up and got old together in the Labor Party,” he said.

“I don’t have any reason for concern. What I do know is Kate will comply with our tough lobbying laws. We expect everybody to comply with what are among the toughest lobbying laws in the country.’’

Lobbying laws were amended last year on the recommendation of public sector expert Peter Coaldrake, who headed an inquiry that partly probed the influence of Labor-aligned lobbyists.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Lachie Millard

Ms Palaszczuk later adopted a recommendation from Professor Coaldrake’s subsequent report calling for a ban on three lobbyists – former ALP state secretaries Evan Moorhead and Cameron Milner, as well as David Nelson – from working in Queensland after The Weekend Australian revealed they had run her 2020 re-election campaign.

The two firms of the three lobbyists, it was shown, secured 70 per cent of all meetings granted to lobbyists by the government in the two years after they masterminded the Palaszczuk re-election in October 2020.

Under Queensland law, all lobbying activity must be done by registered lobbyists and declared on the state’s public register.

Akin Agency and Ms Jones said they complied with all government requirements, including the Integrity Commissioner’s rules about lobbying.

Ms Jones, an NRL commissioner tipped to replace Peter V’landys as chairman of the code’s governing body, also works part-time for rich-lister entrepreneur Bevan Slattery as a “strategy and engagement ­adviser”.

Ms Simpson said the connections needed to be probed.

“The Premier has serious questions to answer and the Integrity Commissioner should investigate how deep these lobbying relationships go within this Labor government,’’ she said.