Holzapfel in the money
Federal contracts awarded to spin doctor’s company despite CCC investigation
A CONTROVERSIAL spin doctor and donor to dumped Liberal MP Stuart Robert has been awarded a number of taxpayer-funded Federal Government contracts.
Simone Holzapfel donated $114,000 of what she says was her “own money’’ to Mr Robert in 2013, at the time her public relations company was being liquidated with debts of $430,000, including $355,000 to the Tax Office.
Despite this, and despite now being part of an investigation by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission over Mr Robert’s bankrolling of so-called “independent’’ candidates at the Gold Coast council elections, Ms Holzapfel’s rebooted company continues to advertise a number of Federal Government agencies and departments as her clients.
The CCC investigation was launched after it was discovered the candidates had Liberal Party links.
Ms Holzapfel previously worked at the Gold Coast council. She also represents Nimrod, the company owned by $2 million Liberal Party donor Paul Marks.
Mr Robert lost his job as a minister after it was revealed he had secretly flown to China in 2014 to support Mr Marks and Nimrod as they signed a contract with a Chinese Government-owned mining company.
The revelations that Ms Holzapfel’s company was in financial trouble at the time she made the donations has raised further questions about the origins of the money, although she has previously denied it came from developers, and said it was her “own money’’.
Mr Robert said yesterday he did not know about Ms Holzapfel’s debts at the time she donated the money.
He denied any role in helping her land Federal Government contracts.
According to the website of her company, Shac Communications, Ms Holzapfel lists as clients the Federal Government bodies, the Prime Minis- ter’s science prize, the National Measurement Institute, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the Export Finance and Investment Corporation and the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Ms Holzapfel, a former adviser to Tony Abbott who Mr Robert praised in his maiden speech to Parliament, did not respond to questions yesterday.
Labor leader Bill Shorten this week called on Mr Turnbull to “back” or “sack” Mr Robert.