Martin Ferguson: in breach of parliament’s code of ethics for ex-ministers?
2013
Martin 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 fuel lobby within six months of resigning as minister.
Martin Ferguson spent 17 years in parliament before resigning just before the September 2013 federal election. He was the minister for resources and energy from December 2007 to March 2013. Within six months of resigning as minister Ferguson had taken up a lucrative position with peak oil and gas industry lobby group APPEA (the Australian Petroleum Producers and Exploration Association) in October 2013.
At the same time he took up a position as head of natural resources for Seven Group Holdings. In June 2014 he was involved in Seven Group’s attempt to buy Nexus, which got a favourable retention lease over the Crux gas field in the Browse Basin off Western Australia in February 2013, when Ferguson was minister for resources. In “late 2013’’ he became a non-executive board member of British Gas.