The former Liberal minister Bruce Billson failed to declare he was employed and paid a $75,000 salary by a business lobby before he quit parliament.
Latest Conflicts of Interest Stories
Grassgate – Angus Taylor kept mum on personal financial interest
Angus Taylor did not declare his financial interest in a company at a meeting with senior environment officials and the office of the then environment minister, Josh Frydenberg about endangered grasslands.
Christopher Pyne took up EY job 9 days after leaving parliament
Former Liberal defence minister Christopher Pyne discussed defence consulting jobs with EY while he was still in cabinet and took up a job nine days after leaving parliament.
Fiona Nash and the food health ratings website
Then assistant health minister and her chief of staff pulled a food health star rating website. Her chief of staff was previously chair of, and still held shares in, APA, a lobbyist for the Australian Beverages Council and Mondelez Australia.
The $80m water deal that has provided no water
The $80 million deal, signed off by by then-agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce, had been rejected twice and involved a company that Angus Taylor was once a director of.
PM’s department broke law by delaying FoI request
The privacy watchdog found the PM’s department broke the law by delaying a FoI request about allegations that the former public service commissioner improperly aided the Institute of Public Affairs.
Tony Abbott fails to declare daughter’s scholarship connected to donor
Frances Abbott received a scholarship for a $60,000 degree from the Whitehouse Institute of Design. Its chairman, who recommended Frances for the scholarship, has donated more than $20,000 to the Liberal party.
Joel Fitzgibbon fails to declare payment for China trips
Joel Fitzgibbon failed to declare two trips he took to China in 2002 and 2005, which were paid for by Chinese-born businesswoman Helen Liu.
Martin Ferguson: in breach of parliament’s code of ethics for ex-ministers?
2013Martin Ferguson was minister for resources and energy for more than five years before resigning in March 2013. Under the code of ethics, ministers are required to have an 18-month cooling-off period upon leaving parliament. Ferguson joined the fossil...
Minister’s role a link in grant to ineligible business
The office of former regional development minister the LNP’s John McVeigh asked the Infrastructure Department to reconsider an ineligible Queensland abattoir for a regional jobs grant.
Stuart Robert breached ministerial standards over donor links
Robert appeared at a signing ceremony in China in 2014 for a mining deal between an Australian company Nimrod Resources and a Chinese business. Robert had said he travelled to China in a personal capacity.
All in the (Wilson) family: the not-so-frank inquiry
In the lead-up to the 2019 election, the Liberals’ Tim Wilson chaired an inquiry into proposed changes to franking credits. His private website for the inquiry was badged as official but only solicited submissions from those against the changes.
Scott Morrison and that phone call to the NSW police commissioner
The Prime Minister was roundly condemned after admitting he telephoned the NSW Police Commissioner about the investigation into the Angus Taylor/Sydney City Council affair. Both men insist the phone call was innocuous but will not release the transcript.
Jobs scheme targeted marginal electorate, ignored recommendations
The Regional Jobs and Investment Packages was a $220 million Coalition promise rolled out after the 2016 election but conflicts of interest were not managed properly, according to the Auditor General.
The mysterious case of disappearing donations…
The Liberal Party disclosed a $165,000 political donation from a Morrison ally who is also in the running for a $1 billion contract then deleted records of it after questions from the media.
Jobs for the boys? The limits of limited tendering
The Coalition Government appointed former Liberal staffer to a $500,000 a year job through a limited tender.
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