Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Patrick Woods
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles has criticised the Liberal National Party for accepting donations ahead of last month’s state election from a twice-convicted fraudster.
Mr Miles said the LNP had “questions to answer” over their fundraising practices after it was revealed that Eddy Andrews had donated almost $60,000 in 32 donations to the party for its campaign.
Mr Andrews, 62, was convicted of fraud in Victoria and Queensland and in 2015 regulators stripped a charity he ran of its registration and not-for-profit status.
Electoral Commission of Queensland records show Mr Andrews gave the bulk of donations in $1000 and $1500 instalments in the three months leading up to the October 31 poll.
The LNP has come under fire over its fundraising practices, particularly over allegations it was secretly accepting money from developers banned from giving donations in the state.
Mr Miles accused the LNP of accepting “dodgy donations” from Mr Andrews, given revelations in The Australian about his criminal past. “There’s questions for them to answer about their party’s fundraising techniques, those tens of thousands of dollars donated from someone convicted of committing charitable fraud,” he said.
“They’re very serious allegations … I think the LNP really needs to address that.’’
LNP frontbencher Fiona Simpson, elevated to the newly created position of opposition spokesperson for “integrity,” said she did not know Mr Andrews and was unaware of his donations or criminal past.
She referred questions about whether the LNP should return the donations back to party officials. On Sunday, a LNP spokesman said he was unaware of Mr Andrews’s convictions.
Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has predicted the LNP would split in the next four years after Labor won traditional Nationals heartland seats at the October election.
Ms Palaszczuk held her first cabinet meeting since her election win on the Sunshine Coast, where Labor won Nicklin and Caloundra from the LNP.
Speaking alongside new Labor Nicklin MP Rob Skelton, Ms Palaszczuk said it was the first time the people of the area, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland near Nambour, had backed the ALP for 100 years.
“It’s been a century since the people of this area have entrusted Labor to be their member … this is also a very interesting story of the election,” she said.
“This was once National Party heartland. This is a very strong signal to the LNP that the Liberals are consuming the National Party. What does the National Party in Queensland stand for anymore?
“The Katters have made inroads in relation to the Nationals, and now we’re seeing Labor making inroads … it would not surprise me if over the course of these four years that we saw the Liberal National Party in Queensland split.”
