We read in the Australian today that a medical company that secured a secret Palaszczuk government contract to run the Wellcamp quarantine precinct is a client of the Labor-aligned lobbyist who ran the Premier’s re-election campaign.

Aspen Medical was awarded the contract in January without going to tender and the government has refused to reveal how much taxpayer money will be spent on the confidential deal. Queensland’s lobbyist register shows the firm of Evan Moorhead, one of two lobbyists who ran Labor’s 2020 campaign from Ms Palaszczuk’s CBD office, has been given extraordinary access to ministers’ offices in the past 12 months.

Mr Moorhead’s Anacta Strategies firm secured 20 meetings in the past year, eight of those in January, on behalf of Aspen Medical with the senior staffers of Ms Palaszczuk, Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Health Minister Yvette D’Ath. The purpose of 15 of Anacta’s 20 meetings has been withheld on the grounds of being -“commercial-in-confidence”.

The government has refused to disclose how much Aspen is being paid to run the facility, saying it is “commercial-in-confidence” and the costs will vary depending on the services required. A leaked document shows government “support costs” were initially estimated at $56m each year.

Ahead of the October 31, 2020, state election, it was revealed by The Australian that Mr Moorhead and rival lobbyist Cameron Milner – both former state ALP secretaries – were brought in to run the campaign. It prompted then Crime and Corruption Commission chair Alan MacSporran to issue a written warning ahead of the poll about the “blurring” lines between government and the private sector “with overlapping networks of association involving consultants, influencers, lobbyists and executives”.

Peter Fegan from Channel 9 News, joins Luke Grant to evaluate just how serious this all may be.

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