Peter Lyndon-James@PeterPerthWA
THE REVOLVING DOOR: WHERE YOUR MINISTERS ACTUALLY END UP.
You elect them to serve you. Watch where they go when they're done. I've verified all 29 names, many more not listed. Every one on the public record.
Prime Ministers & Premiers
- Scott Morrison — signed AUKUS as PM, now advises DYNE Maritime, which invests in AUKUS-linked tech.
- Anna Bligh — Labor Premier, CEO of the banks' lobby.
- Gladys Berejiklian — NSW Premier, Optus executive.
- Mike Baird — NSW Premier, NAB, $2.29 million in one year.
- Barry O'Farrell — NSW Premier, CEO of Racing Australia.
- Nick Greiner — NSW Premier, coal lobbyist.
Treasury — the banks
- Josh Frydenberg — Treasurer, Goldman Sachs.
- Peter Costello — Treasurer, chairman of Nine for eight years. The bloke who ran the country's money ended up running a quarter of its newspapers.
- Joe Hockey — Treasurer, founded a Washington advisory firm riding AUKUS.
- Simon Birmingham — Finance Minister, ANZ, then CEO of the banking lobby. Left the Senate and landed at a bank, the same month.
Defence — defence money
- Christopher Pyne — Defence Minister, advising EY on defence within weeks.
- Peter Reith — Defence Minister, Tenix, a contractor that won work while he was minister.
Trade & Foreign Affairs
- Andrew Robb — Trade Minister, $880,000 a year, with Landbridge, holder of the Darwin Port lease. Quit just before the foreign interference laws kicked in.
- Julie Bishop, aid contractor Palladium.
- Marise Payne, lobbying firm.
- Alexander Downer → registered lobbyist, clients included Woodside.
- Craig Emerson — Labor, consultant for Santos.
Resources — mining and gas
- Ian Macfarlane — Resources Minister, CEO of the mining lobby, within weeks.
- Martin Ferguson — Labor's Resources Minister, oil and gas lobby, six months, after leaving. The cooling-off rule says eighteen. Nothing happened.
- Mark Vaile — Deputy PM, chairman of Whitehaven Coal.
- John Anderson — Deputy PM → chairman of Eastern Star Gas.
- Greg Combet — Labor Climate Minister, consultant to AGL and Santos.
Gambling
- Stephen Conroy — Labor Communications Minister, the online bookies' lobby, two months, after leaving.
- Mark Arbib — Labor senator, Crown.
- Karl Bitar — Labor national secretary, Packer's lobbyist.
And the production line:
- Nick Minchin, Michael Wooldridge, Richard Alston, all into lobbying.
- Bruce Billson, took the Franchise Council's money, while still sitting in Parliament. Censured. Kept the job.
Both parties. Every portfolio with money in it. Grattan counted it: 1 in 4 ministers end up working for the industries they regulated.
Penalties ever handed out: zero. They're not leaving politics. They're cashing it in.
None of it is illegal. That's the problem.
Cold hard facts. Sourced. Corrected when wrong.
What's your Thoughts…?
Peter Lyndon-James 🇦🇺
Sources:
- Register of Lobbyists; Grattan Institute; Senate ministerial standards inquiry; company and lobby group records.