Palaszczuk ministers disclose cash meetings

Three Queensland state ministers have been forced to publicly disclose 27 cash-for-­access meetings with businesses.

Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt failed to report 13 closed-door meetings with business. Picture: Annette Dew

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been forced to ­“encourage” three of her ministers to publicly disclose 27 cash-for-­access meetings with businesses at last year’s Labor state conference.

Ministerial diaries show 56 companies, including banks, property developers, coal miners, and lobbyists, paid at least $5000 each for 144 meetings with 14 members of Ms Palaszczuk’s cabinet at the Gold Coast event in October, tipping more than $280,000 into the party’s coffers.

But Treasurer Curtis Pitt, Education Minister Kate Jones and Domestic Violence Minister Shannon Fentiman initially failed to report 13, 11, and three closed-door meetings respectively.

The meetings were disclosed only after questions from The Australian prompted the Premier’s ­office to scold her ministers for the oversight. Party-related meetings do not have to be disclosed under the rules, but all Labor ministers published the details of their cash-for-access meetings in 2015.

“In the interests of transparency, ministerial offices are ­encouraged to list one-on-one meetings with businesses at the conference as was done for the 2015 conference,” a spokesman for Ms Palaszczuk said.

One of Mr Pitt’s previously ­secret meetings was with Plenary Group, a major infrastructure ­investor and developer that specialises in public-private partnerships and received a massive contract from the Newman government to build 10 state schools.

Mr Pitt also met coal miner TerraCom, major Chinese development company Wanda Ridong, and Suncorp.

Audit and advisory giant KPMG’s donation bought the most access of any company, ­securing 10 meetings with ­ministers.

The firm has been awarded a slew of government contracts under the Palaszczuk government, including being hired to advise on the merger of state-owned power assets, the delivery of the Cross River Rail project, the state’s domestic and family violence services and the previous government’s boot camp ­program.

KPMG’s professional services competitors Ernst & Young and PwC each paid for five meetings with ministers, while Singaporean sugar company Wilmar and ­accountancy firm Grant Thornton each scored six.

Labor’s business observers program was revived in 2015 with Ms Palaszczuk’s blessing after it was axed by former premier Anna Bligh in 2009, following an investigation by The Australian into government integrity.

Last year, the $5000 basic package bought companies lunch with Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and federal Labor’s transport spokesman Anthony Albanese on the Friday, dinner with Ms Palaszczuk and her cabinet that night, and breakfast with federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten the following morning. It also included the prized, but brief, one-on-one meetings with cabinet ministers.

Ms Trad and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham were in the highest demand, each taking 19 meetings. Eighteen companies paid for access to Energy Minister Mark Bailey, while 16 bought ­Environment Minister Steven Miles’s time. Businesses missed out on personal meetings with Ms Palaszczuk, Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, and then-police minister Bill Byrne when ministerial business got in the way.

Ms Palaszczuk was hosting a domestic violence summit with Ms Fentiman, Mr Hinchliffe was dealing with the unfolding Queensland Rail driver shortage crisis, and Mr Byrne was being briefed about the murder of a Brisbane bus driver.

Spokespeople for Mr Pitt and Ms Fentiman said the failure to publish complete diaries was due to an “administrative error”.

Ms Jones said her office manager determined that because the meetings were party business, they did not have to be declared under the rules.