Greasing the Wheels

that the ALP Government has met with mining companies 145 times, accepted $91,410
in donations (plus additional donations made at a Federal level), and rejected
independent recommendations to extend the definition of lobbyists to cover in-house
lobbyists and industry associations. The ‘Fitzgerald Principles’ which all parties
committed to in the lead-up to the last Queensland election, have not been met.
To prevent the continuing malaise in public trust due to the undue influence of the
mining industry on the Qld Government, urgent changes are needed. We recommend
that:
1. A Special Commission of Inquiry with public hearings is conducted with a wide
remit to investigation the influence of the mining industry on public decisionmaking
in Qld, as well as investigating links, if any, between political donations
and contributions, and tenders, contracts and approvals.
2. Improvements are made to the regulation of lobbyists to include in-house
lobbyists and industry associations, and to increase transparency to ensure that
agendas, minutes and notes from such meetings are placed on the public
record.
3. Stricter controls are placed on post-separation employment and on the
provision of gifts and benefits.
4. Political donations and contributions laws are amended to require real time
disclosure, to ban donations from the mining industry, to prohibit ‘cash for
access’ schemes, and to place strict caps on all other donations.
5. The powers of the Crime and Corruption Commission are expanded to
encompass official misconduct, to include the provision of advice on corruption
prevention, and to open the CCC process up via public hearings.
Greasing the Wheels 51