The state's new Integrity Commissioner has urged Queensland to learn from the lessons of other states, as the government ruled out making in-house lobbyists declare their contact with ministers.
In his first meeting with the parliamentary committee which oversees his independent office, Richard Bingham said he believed the public interest would be better served by including all lobbyist contact within the lobbyist register, but the Premier had advised him of the need to balance the obligations of openness with the need for government business to function "efficiently and effectively".
The former commissioner, David Solomon, had long lobbied the government to include in-house lobbyists, which includes representative bodies such as the Property and Queensland Resources Councils, and company directors, managers and executives, within the rules which require lobbyists to reveal their lobbyist contact with government representatives.
In a paper he released shortly before departing the role, Dr Solomon said in-house lobbyists were "extremely influential" and their access to ministers and public servants needed to be more transparent.
"The government has refused to extend lobbying rules to cover this kind of lobbying, rejecting a number of submissions by me, and a unanimous recommendation of an all-party parliamentary committee," he said in his paper, 'ministerial access and the public trust'.
Mr Bingham, who succeeded Dr Solomon in July this year, told a parliamentary committee he too believed the lobbyist register should be expanded.
"I know the government has considered that and I know that the Premier has advised me that from his perspective there needs to be balance in the obligations of openness on the one hand and the need for government business to be conducted efficiently and effectively on the other," he told the committee.
"I readily understand and accept that perspective but, as I say, my personal view about it is that there is always benefit in reviewing the way in which these matters operate.
"My general take about all of these things is that Queensland has a well-deserved reputation for leadership in relation to these issues and you only need to look at other jurisdictions around the country to see how topical they are.
"It would be unfortunate if we didn't learn from what's evolving in other places and take those lessons on board for the purposes of ensuring the integrity framework in this state is as good as it possibly can be."
What Queensland ministers do and don't have to declare under rules the LNP government established upon coming to power in 2012 has raised questions, after it was revealed Energy Minister Mark McArdle hosted a fundraiser in a power company's boardroom in June last year.
He was not required to declare the fundraiser, which was revealed through right-to-information documents, under rules which dictate what ministers have to include in their edited diary release, but has refused to answer whether or not he believed he should have.
Minister McArdle maintains he is part of the "most open and transparent government in the whole nation".
