Bruce Billson paid $75k salary by lobby group while an MP
March 2016
Former Liberal minister took a job with the Franchise Council of Australia in March 2016 while he was still an MP. He didn’t leave parliament until May 9.
According to Guardian Australia, parliament’s privileges committee criticised Billson for ignoring “the primacy of the public interest” in taking and failing to disclose paid lobbying work. Billson failed to disclosed in parliament’s register of interests that he had started drawing a $75,000-a-year salary as executive chairman and independent director of the FCA. Billson also revealed to the committee that he had provided services to the FCA through his company Agile Advisory.
The committee recommended that he by censured but stopped short of finding that his conduct amounted to a contempt of Parliament, which can lead to potential penalties of six months in prison or a $5000 fine. On March 27, 2018, parliament censured Billson
In October 2017 the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet had cleared Billson of breaching ministerial guidelines and the lobbying code of conduct, according to Guardian Australia.
A 30-year veteran of the mainstream media, Liz was the editor of MWMuntil June 2021. Liz began her career in journalism in 1990 and worked at The Age newspaper for two 10-year stints. She also worked at The Guardian newspaper in London for more than seven years. A former professional tennis player who represented Australia in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Liz has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Letters (Hons).