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AAP
AAP
National
Marty Silk

Qld premier tightens her lobbying rules

Qld Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a crackdown on lobbying of MPs, ahead of a report. (AAP)

The Queensland premier has moved to tighten lobbying rules ahead of the release of a key report into her own government's integrity.

Professor Peter Coaldrake is due to hand down his final report into government accountability and integrity on Tuesday.

His interim report in April found lobbying is widespread, escalating and lacks proper regulation.

Prof Coaldrake said he would consider steps to ensure the ministerial code of conduct "has teeth and is observed" in his final report.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has pre-empted his possible recommendations by changes to the lobbying code of conduct on Monday.

She says from now on anyone working for a lobbying firm, except for administration staff, will be deemed a lobbyist.

"That basically means anyone working for a lobbying firm will need to be registered as a lobbyist," Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

Lobbyists will only be allowed to contact a minister's chief of staff, she said, and must request all meetings in writing.

"There will be no lobbying activity for those under a senior adviser in a ministerial staff ... the people who are appropriately trained, and have extensive knowledge of their portfolio responsibility," the premier said.

Finally, lobbyists will no longer be allowed to write "other" as the subject of their meetings with ministers in the official register.

Ms Palaszczuk said they will have to detail the subject of a meeting with a minister, while the minister will have to include those details in their ministerial diary as well.

The premier said she was also prepared to make any other changes recommended by Prof Coaldrake on Tuesday.

She has previously promised to order a royal commission into government integrity if that's advised.

Prof Coaldrake's interim report said the lobbyist register "is not doing the job which was intended", and found evidence of politicisation in the public service and ministerial staffer "overreach".

He noted 988 recorded meetings between registered lobbyists and ministers or officials in 2020/21, four times the average annual amount over the previous nine years.

However, the report warned that actual lobbying contacts could be up to five times higher than the figure recorded due to a rise in unregulated lobbying.

Earlier this month, the corruption watchdog reported that lobbying had surged since the Palaszczuk government was re-elected in 2020, increasing the risk of corruption.

The Crime and Corruption Commission said its investigations showed state government decisions "can be inappropriately influenced".

Donors, lobbyist clients and people with political links have won government contracts, project approvals, grants or subsidies, it said, and some groups and individuals also have disproportionate access to government ministers.

One in 10 public servants had witnessed or suspected people from the private sector pressuring a politician, the watchdog said.

About 14 per cent have witnessed or suspected people from the private sector pressuring public servants.

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