Exclusive: resources companies ‘punch well above their weight’ in lobbying the state, Grattan Institute says

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Mining and energy corporates have used paid lobbyists to access the Queensland Labor government 214 times in the past six years, analysis shows.

The mining and energy sector is hugely influential in Queensland, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to political parties, and regularly gaining access to the most senior members of cabinet.

A major Grattan Institute report released last year detected 191 contacts between the state government and lobbyists hired by the industry.

The report found mining and energy companies accounted for more than a quarter of all recorded lobbyist contacts in Queensland between 2013 and 2018, vastly more than any other sector.

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The next biggest employer of lobbyists in Queensland was the property and construction sector, which accounted for 20% of lobbying contacts.

The trend has continued since. Guardian Australia obtained and updated the raw data from the Grattan report, analysing more recent contacts by lobbyists hired by mining and energy companies.

The analysis found a further 23 meetings between paid lobbyists for the mining and energy sector and the Queensland government since April last year. That included lobbyists hired by Adani, who met with a department head, but listed the subject of the meeting as “commercial-in-confidence”.

Lobbyists for Centrex Metals Limited, a company seeking to mine phosphate in north-west Queensland, met with a range of policy advisers, ministers and bureaucrats between January and June this year. Idemitsu Australia Resources, a Japanese-owned miner, had lobbyists repeatedly meet with chiefs of staff, advisers, agency heads and ministers in the six months between May and November last year.

The raw Grattan data shows the sector donated $598,822 to all parties from October 2012 to April 2018, and secured 66 meetings with the premier, deputy premier or treasurer in the 15 months to March last year.

It also shows that half of the major donors to the Queensland Labor party secured a meeting with the senior leadership team about the time of the last state election.

The Grattan researcher and senior associate Kate Griffiths said donations and lobbying were common in highly regulated industries, like resources. But she said energy and mining companies “punch well above their weight” in lobbying the Queensland government.

“It’s not surprising these groups are knocking on doors – they have the most to gain (or lose) from government decisions – but policymakers need to be hearing from a wider range of voices,” Griffiths told Guardian Australia.

“Lobbying helps to introduce new ideas and reduces the likelihood of uninformed or damaging decisions by those in office. But some interests have a lot more opportunity to influence than others. Policy makers should be listening to interest groups with the best ideas, not simply those with money and connections.”

On Thursday, Guardian Australia revealed Queensland Labor was preparing to change its official platform to assert the party’s support for the mining industry, as it seeks to reconnect with blue-collar voters.

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The state government earlier this week enacted new police powers to crack down on climate change protesters, a move decried by civil liberties groups and environmentalists.

There is no suggestion that donations or lobbying has influenced those decisions. But Griffiths says there is broader concern about the extent of special interest influence on politics.

That’s backed up by successive Transparency International surveys, which show perceptions of corruption in government are at the worst levels on record.

“There’s real suspicion about special interest influence in Australian politics at the moment,” Griffiths said. “Politicians are losing trust and should support transparency and accountability around money and access to show the public that they take their concerns seriously.”

• Guardian Australia only counted lobbyist contacts for mining and energy companies that have lobbied the Queensland government at least five times since 2013. This was done to ensure a consistent methodology with the Grattan Institute report