Revolving Doors

Martin Ferguson

Martin Ferguson

Fossil Fuels | Labor | Revolving Doors

Current Positions

Federal Minister for Resources & Energy (Nov 2007- Mar 2013)

Federal Minister for Tourism (Nov 2007- Mar 2013)

Chairman of the Clare Valley Wine & Grape Association (2019 – Present)

Appointed to the Fair Work Commission as of March 2020

Previous Positions

Federal MP for Batman, Vic (1996-2013)

Chair, Tasmanian Government Advisory Panel on the Timber Industry 

President of the ACTU (1990-1996) [2]

General Secretary of the FMWU (1984-1990) [3]

Mining Connections

Non-Executive Board Member, British Gas (“late” 2013- 2016) [4]

Chairman, Advisory Council, APPEA (2013-Present) [5],[6]

Non-executive Director, Seven Group Holdings & BG Group (2013- Present) [7]

Member, Advisory Board on Resources & Energy, University of Western Australia (2016-)

Chair of Tourism Accommodation Australia (June 2015 – Present) [8]

Board Member, University College London, Australia (2014-2017)

1 — http://www.questevents.com.au/australian-domestic-gas-outlook-2017/speakers.

2 — Australian Council of Trade Unions, the peak body for trade unions.

3 — Federated Miscellaneous Workers’ Union.

4 — In 2010 while Minister for Resources and Energy, Ferguson approved BG’s $20 billion Curtis LNG/CSG export project in Queensland. See Manning (2014). Also: http://www.questevents.com.au/australian-domestic-gas-outlook-2017/speakers; http://insight.thomsonreuters.com.au/posts/martin-ferguson-steps-out-of-labors-shadow.

5 — https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/csg-industry-hires-wellconnected-staffers-20150515-gh2rg3.html.

6 — APPEA, the Australian Petroleum Producers and Exploration Association, is the peak lobby group for the oil and gas industry in Australia. Ferguson took up this position only six months after he retired as minister. The lobbying code of conduct requires an 18-month cooling-off period for ex-ministers, which was clearly not enforced in Ferguson’s case. See Manning (2014).

7 — Ferguson became head of natural resources for Seven Group Holdings (SGH), which he also took up only six months after he retired as minister: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/csg-industry-hires-wellconnected-staffers-20150515-gh2rg3.html. Seven Group Holdings is the parent company of Seven West Media, the Chairman of which is media mogul, Kerry Stokes. This connection provides SGH with a valuable media platform to promote its activities. See Manning (2014).

8 — http://www.ahawa.asn.au/news___information/mediaitem.phtml?MediaID=238#sthash.2J7zJ8G5.dpbs.

Simone Marsh was a senior environmental analyst with the Queensland Co-ordinator General. After filing her report on the environmental effects of the proposed LNG industry in June 2010, she walked out of her job and was not heard of again in the media until she testified as a whistleblower at the Queensland government parliamentary inquiry into Queensland government administration of Commonwealth government affairs in November 2014.

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