Prime Minister Scott Morrison is getting election advice from 2 of his best mates David Gazard and Scott Briggs who also make $millions from lobbying Morrison and his government which has a huge stench of corruption over it. The Liberal National Party (LNP) in Queensland have called for a Royal Commission into the Queensland government because of an identical situation where lobbyists have also advised the state government on re-elections.

So, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander and the LNP should also call for a Royal Commission into why Scott Morrison’s mates are advising on his re-election “unofficially” when they are also lobbyists at DPG Advisory Solutions.

For example, I recently wrote an article about David Gazard and Morrison titled “How much did Scott Morrison personally make from Australia’s failed submarine deal given he made sure his mates Peter Costello and David Gazard made $millions?“.

LNP calls for a Royal Commission into Lobbyist corruption – (In Queensland, the Liberal Party and National Parties merged in 2008 to form the LNP)

The ABC reported: “An interim report into the culture and accountability of the Queensland public sector reveals new concerns about the overreach of ministerial staff, the influence of lobbyists and the erosion of functions designed to hold government to account.”

“In Queensland recently, this has been accentuated by the dual roles of some lobbyists — acting for clients to influence government, then acting for political parties to help them win elections.

Responding to the report, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli again said a wider inquiry was needed. “The report raises far more questions than it does answers and falls shockingly short of what is needed to clean up the corruption running rife through the Queensland government,” he said. “Queensland must have a royal commission into the state government’s integrity crisis.”(Click here to read more)

Queensland’s acting premier, Steven Miles, has rejected calls for a major inquiry into lobbying and the politicisation of the public service.

A review by Prof Peter Coaldrake has already found that government lobbying is widespread, escalating and lacks proper regulation.

Coaldrake also raised concerns about the public’s perception of Labor-aligned Anacta Strategies. The lobbying firm has been acting for clients to influence the government and worked on Annastacia Palaszczuk’s re-election campaign in 2020.

“This can leave the public sceptical about even the strongest protections against conflict,” Coaldrake said in the report. (Click here to read more)

But at the federal level of government Scott Morrison’s lobbyist mates are all over the place doing dirty deals. But apparently putting two and two together is too hard for the old media which is why they don’t report the blatant conflict of interest even though it is there for everyone to see.

Below is a screenshot of The Sydney Telegraph on Saturday the 23rd of April 2022:

Below is a larger picture of where it says, “Unofficial advisors” and names David Gazard and Scott Briggs:

Scott Briggs is a good mate of Scott Morrison’s, and remember in 2018 when it was reported:

One of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s closest friends and local political allies runs a company bidding for a $1 billion contract to process migrant visas.

Scott Briggs, a board member of the Cronulla Sharks rugby league team, has previously been Mr Morrison’s campaign director in his southern Sydney electorate of Cook. The 46-year-old businessman lives a 10-minute drive away from the Prime Minister’s Port Hacking house in the Sutherland Shire at nearby Gymea Bay. (Click here to read more)

I published an article in December 2021 titled “Scott Morrison’s Covid scam to help a third friend, Scott Briggs, become a millionaire via government contracts and fraud” which says “Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is a “disgraceful slur” for the opposition to suggest he had any role in the Home Affairs Department awarding an almost $80,000 contract to a company run by two of his closest friends.” (Click here to read more)

I published the below video on Monday (25/4/22) which covers the issues raised in this article and other related issues. 

David Gazard made $millions from the cancelled submarine deal, with Peter Costello, via their company (Epstein Costello Gazard) ECG Advisory Solutions which he owned with Nine Entertainment Chairman Peter Costello and Jonathan Epstein. David Gazard is no longer listed as working at ECG Advisory Solutions on their website.

Peter Costello, David Gazard and Jonathan Epstein launch their firm ECG in 2011.

As a side note, it was reported on the 22nd of December 2021 regarding Jonathan Epstein and David Gazard:

“Former business partners in one of Australia’s most high-profile lobbying groups have just settled a secret and protracted battle over $4.5m worth of Afterpay options.” (Click here to read more – It is behind a paywall at The Australian)

DPG Advisory Solutions “home to Australia’s leading government and corporate advisory specialists” is owned by David Gazard and Scott Briggs works there as a lobbyist. But it is the side deals that would make them the big dollars.

Peter Costello’s many conflicts of interest

It says on Peter Costello’s personal website “Mr Costello is Chairman of the Australian Future Fund now holding around $130 billion in assets.” and “Peter Costello is a Company Director and a Corporate Advisor with the boutique firm ECG Financial Pty Ltd which advises on mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, competition and regulatory issues.” (Click here to read more)

ECG Advisory Solutions seems to have been rolled into ECG Financial Pty Ltd but still operates from what I can tell as a lobbying business as it says under Jonathan Epstein’s name on their website:

“Jonathan has also established and co-founded ECG Advisory Solutions, a leading consulting firm specialising in government relations and corporate strategy.  ECG Advisory Solutions has built a strong client base (top 100 ASX companies) across the industrial spectrum, including, banking, retail, property, mining, health, energy, and infrastructure – both domestic and global.” (Click here to read more)

I think it is a huge conflict to have Peter Costello as “Chairman of the Australian Future Fund now holding around $130 billion in assets” and also working as a lobbyist and/or owning a lobbyist business.

In 2013 it was reported regarding a criminal complaint against Peter Costello:

A complaint about former federal treasurer Peter Costello lodged with Queensland’s Crime and Misconduct Commission highlights potential conflicts of interest between his job overseeing the future of the state’s finances and his ownership of a lobby group representing companies that could benefit from state asset sales.

Epstein Costello Gazard (ECG) Advisory Solutions – the private lobby group owned by Mr Costello and two of his former parliamentary staffers – made a declaration in February on the federal register that it lobbies for clients including SP AusNet, Primary Health Care, ASG Group and Serco Asia Pacific. All are companies that could benefit from the recommendations of Queensland’s “independent audit” of the state’s finances, which has been chaired by Mr Costello.

That Commission of Audit last week handed down recommendations to sell or outsource many of the state’s assets and services, including electricity and healthcare.

The complaint to the Crime and Misconduct Commission – made by an Australian business figure and past donor to the Liberal Party – draws attention to Mr Costello’s role as a co-owner and chairman of ECG.

Mr Costello helped raise funds for the Liberal-National Party ahead of the 2012 Queensland election. He was subsequently appointed chairman of an “independent audit” of the state’s finances. (Click here to read more)

It’s also worth reading what I reported in September 2019:

A major league scam went down on Monday night (2/9/19) where Nine Entertainment Chairman, known fraudster and former federal treasurer Peter Costello destroyed the media company’s reputation to raise $700,000 for his mate PM Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party.

The fundraiser, which cost $10,000 per person to attend, was held at the Channel Nine studios in Sydney and was attended by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, numerous federal ministers, mining executives, the bank’s top lobbyist former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and other business people.

I have been reporting for months about Peter Costello and his extremely close relationship with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and how that relationship is very profitable for Peter Costello and I suspect vice versa. (Click here to read the full article)

This article was only going to be about Scott Morrison, David Gazard and Scott Briggs but whenever there is a corrupt dollar to be made from governments Peter Costello seems to be there front and centre and that is where my research took me. The sooner Peter Costello is banned from any government contact the better.

When you have lobbyists who make money from the government and also raise money for a political party, such as Peter Costello, the alarm bells should be ringing in a huge way because it, in part at least, explains why Scott Morrison has previously helped his lobbyist mates make money from the government.

If the Liberal National Party (LNP) leader, David Crisafulli, is calling for a Royal Commission in Queensland, which I agree with, I’m sure he would also agree we also need a Royal Commission into Scott Morrison and his mates Peter Costello, David Gazard and Scott Briggs.

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