G\u2019day readers, welcome back to Feeding the Chooks, your peek behind the scenes of Queensland politics.<\/p>\n
Gold medal glad-handing <\/p>\n
It could be the gold medal winner for political panhandling in the Olympic state.<\/p>\n
New disclosures to the Queensland Lobbying Register, uncovered by Chooks, have revealed a bewildering coup for one of the state\u2019s top lobbying firms, and its highest-profile spruiker, as the Crisafulli government limbers up for the start of stadia construction for Brisbane 2032.<\/p>\n
The register reveals the Australian Olympic Committee has felt the need to hire Govstrat – and its star lobbyist, former one-term Nationals Premier Rob Borbidge – to ensure it gets the foot in the door with the Liberal National Party government. <\/p>\n
Chooks naively thought that there would have been an open and direct line between the Tower of Power in George Street and the AOC \u2013 which includes reps from the national sports bodies and International Olympic Committee – as they race to get everything ready ahead of 2032.<\/p>\n
Especially because the AOC boasts as committee members superstar Queensland athletes including swimmer Suzie O\u2019Neill, paddler Jess Fox, and diver Michael Murphy.<\/p>\n
Apparently that\u2019s not enough in this world where you not only have to kiss the (five) rings of the executive but also bring some cash. <\/p>\n
The disclosures reveal that Borbidge and his Govstrat lobbyist colleague Geraldine Mitchell – a former David Crisafulli staffer – are the team selected to stump for the AOC to the government, and even paid for the privilege earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The pair fronted up to the infamous cash-for-access<\/a> round of meetings with cabinet ministers on July 2, all in aid of lining the LNP\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n If you recall, Premier Crisafulli, his deputy Jarrod Bleijie and the rest of the ministry took off a weekday and let the state run itself while they got down to the serious business of political fundraising. The LNP sold access to the ministers in 15-minute blocks, for the eye-watering sum of up to $700-a-minute<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s like speed dating, but the worst and most expensive dinner-and-a-movie you\u2019ve ever stumped up for.<\/p>\n Govstrat, on behalf of the AOC and other clients, met Bleijie – in charge of the Olympic infrastructure and venue roll out – and then-acting Olympics minister, Andrew Powell. <\/p>\n A non-government, non-profit organisation which selects and funds the Australian Olympic teams, the AOC had a change at the top in 2022, when Ian Chesterman took over from John Coates as president after his 32 years in the top job.<\/p>\n And former NSW Labor Senator Mark Arbib became the AOC\u2019s chief executive officer in April last year, replacing Matt Carroll.<\/p>\n Why they need lobbyists at all is a mystery to Chooks. Bleijie, Govstrat and the AOC were all silent when approached.<\/p>\n Govstrat paid the LNP $11,000 in August last year to stay a member of its \u201cFuture State Series,\u201d the year-round cash-for-access program, and has donated a total of $25,487 in eight payments to the LNP in the past 12 months. <\/p>\n The firm has tipped a mere $4,789 (in three instalments) to Labor during the same period. <\/p>\n Missed it by that much <\/p>\n Speaking of Andrew Powell, is he the happiest man in Queensland today?<\/p>\n Powell had to take on Tim Mander\u2019s Olympics ministerial portfolio (plus the Paralympics, Racing and Sport) while Mander was sidelined because the Australian Federal Police were investigating whether he\u2019d committed electoral fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Thursday, after two months, the AFP cleared Mander<\/a>, and he got his old job back, leaving Powell to focus on his own full-time ministry of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.<\/p>\n And not a moment too soon. Powell was due to front budget estimates on Thursday next week if he was still filling Mander\u2019s ministerial shoes, answering every question about the Olympics (and many other matters) that the Opposition could think of. <\/p>\n Now that Mander is back in the fold, Powell has an extra week to cram for his Tuesday 28th slot.<\/p>\n Left out <\/p>\n Federal Labor MP Shayne Neumann lost his bid, and then apparently his bottle, to have Ipswich mate and former mayor Andrew Antoniolli welcomed back into the party.<\/p>\n In 2019, Antoniolli, the then Mayor of Ipswich, was charged and convicted on multiple counts of misusing council funds to buy auction items at charity events.<\/p>\n A year later, he was acquitted on appeal and then returned to local politics as a councillor. <\/p>\n Antoniolli was one of 16 people in the council charged by police, including his mayoral predecessor Paul Pisasale \u2013 who was jailed – after a two-year investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission.<\/p>\n It led to the sacking of the entire council by the then Labor Government, with the CCC saying the council was riddled with an \u201cunhealthy culture\u201d that allowed corruption to flourish.<\/p>\n Neumann, whose electorate of Blair is based in Ipswich, seems to be a forgiving fellow and last year put a resolution to a regional ALP conference calling for compensation to be paid to those sacked. <\/p>\n It failed.<\/p>\n But undeterred, Neumann this week helped champion a bid for Antoniolli to secure Labor membership at a meeting of the state ALP\u2019s powerful admin committee.<\/p>\n It also went down in a vote 16-10, with the Left faction \u2013 led by convenor Sharon Abbott \u2013 having the numbers to beat Neumann\u2019s Right colleagues.<\/p>\n Spies tell Chooks that Neumann was angry about the outcome, calling for a roll call of each committee member to declare which way they had voted. <\/p>\n Read the Chooks <\/p>\n Are you royally obsessed with Queensland politics? Want to be alerted as soon as we publish the column? Drop a line to elkss@theaustralian.com.au and we\u2019ll add you to our mailing list. We\u2019re delighted to welcome back Michael McKenna into the Chook pen this week, after a well-deserved sabbatical.<\/p>\n Feed the Chooks<\/p>\n Got a tip?<\/p>\n elkss@theaustralian.com.au<\/a>
scottm@theaustralian.com.au<\/a>
mckennam@theaustralian.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"G\u2019day readers, welcome back to Feeding the Chooks, your peek behind the scenes of Queensland politics. 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