Greasing the Wheels

free tickets to the rugby, ballet and the orchestra in 2015 from the very companies
that their departments/authorities are charged with independently overseeing. 5
At the same time as continuing far-reaching access for the mining industry, the
Palaszczuk Government has missed out on opportunities to act positively to address
the underlying problems by rejecting independent recommendations to extend the
regulation of lobbyists to cover in-house lobbyists and industry associations 6 . Indeed
the reported budget of the mining industry association in Queensland, the Queensland
Resources Council, of $22 million dollars in 2012 -2014[1] indicates that huge amounts
of resources are being brought to bear to influence state and federal governments. It is
clear that the industry lobbying association is worthy of closer scrutiny 7 .
In addition, a number of important pre-election promises that were made in relation
to mining issues have not been implemented.
To prevent the continuing concern of undue influence of the mining industry on state
and federal governments, urgent changes are needed. We recommend that:
1. Thorough reform of Commonwealth political donations laws is undertaken
including:
A ban on political donations from mining companies.
Real time disclosure of all political donations.
Full transparency of the origin of political donations from federal to
state political parties.
Lowering of the disclosure threshold for political donations to one
thousand dollars.
The publication of ministerial diaries that identify the meetings of
ministers, ministerial staff and departmental staff with lobbyists and
including the agendas of those meetings.
Improving the transparency of the AEC database including clear
identification of any business interests currently before government of
those making political donations, and linking political donations to
5 See, for example, Gasfields Commission Queensland, Reportable Gifts and Benefits Register 1 st April to
30 th June 2015, http://www.gasfieldscommissionqld.org.au/resources/gasfields/reports/gifts-andbenefits-register-q4-2014-15.pdf
6 Queensland Government Response to the Inquiry into the Report on the Strategic Review of the
functions of the Integrity Commission, December 2015,
http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Documents/TableOffice/TabledPapers/2016/5516T273.pdf
7 http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/big-coal-flexes-100-million-pr-muscle-on-soft-sell-
20140506-zr5kq.html
Greasing the Wheels 3