Union donors in charge of Queensland, says LNP

Trade unions and party donors are being granted scores of meetings with Annastacia Palaszczuk’s cabinet ministers.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad in parliament. Picture: Annette Dew

Trade unions and party donors, who have tipped more than $1.8 million into Queensland Labor’s coffers, are being granted scores of face-to-face meetings with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s cabinet ministers.

The Liberal National Party, led by new leader Tim Nicholls, yesterday launched a campaign targeting perceived union influence within the government.

Queensland Labor received more than $20m in donations ­between July 2014 and December 2015. Of that, almost $2m was given by unions — including many whose representatives have had meetings with Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.

Mr Nicholls yesterday seized on revelations about Ms Trad’s union meetings to intensify ­attacks on the government, hammering Labor in parliament over “342 one-on-one meetings between Labor ministers and union bosses” since it was elected.

Ms Palaszczuk batted away the onslaught, despite evidence that Ms Trad holds regular meetings with, among others, United Voice, the Electrical Trades Union, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, the Rail Tram and Bus Union, the Australian Workers Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.

“The heart of the question is about people having access to government,” Ms Palaszczuk told parliament. “I have an open-door policy. That means people from the business community, people from the union movement, and people from community organisations have equal right to access the government of this state, as do ordinary Queenslanders.”

Ms Palaszczuk defended ­unions, which she described as “employee representatives”. She said the ministers’ meetings were disclosed by the public release of their diaries. “I will not have this parliament demonise one section of the community,” she said.

Ms Trad, who is considered to be the government’s “deal maker”, rejected “any suggestion that my meetings occur on the basis of donations received”.

“There is absolutely no link ­between donations and access to the Palaszczuk government — these are absurd political alle­gations,” she said. “Since being elected Deputy Premier, I have had hundreds of meetings with external stakeholders — less than 10 per cent of these meetings have been with industrial organisations affiliated with the ALP.

“We are a consultative government with an open-door policy. The feedback I get from people I meet is that after three years of being ignored, abused and neglected, Queenslanders are certainly pleased that the Palaszczuk government is not like the previous LNP government.”

Opposition industrial relations spokesman Jarrod Bleijie accused unions of being “in charge”. “Union bosses got the Labor Party elected in Queensland and the pay-off is that they get to effectively run the government,” he said.

“The level of influence these powerful unions have over Jackie Trad and the rest of Annastacia Palaszczuk’s cabinet is staggering — unions bosses are in charge and Queensland is worse off ­because of it.”