Former Advance boss appointed to Queensland building regulator board

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The former national director of conservative political campaign group Advance is among five new board appointees named in an overhaul of Queensland’s building regulator that has seen one former Labor government staffer pushed out.

Housing Minister Sam O’Connor detailed changes to the group overseeing the Queensland Building and Construction Commission on Tuesday, one day after a former LNP candidate was added to another government-appointed board.

This week’s appointments come amid a reshaping of state boards in the past 13 months, with the Crisafulli government recruiting party figures and others aligned with the LNP, and raising concerns from ex-board members, the opposition and a former conservative premier.

Advance Australia’s then national director, Gerard Benedet, said in 2019 the group spoke for mainstream Australians.

O’Connor said the currently serving QBCC chair Greg Chemelo and board member Amelia Hodge would be joined by new deputy chair Debra Robinson, along with regular members Sally Noonan, Miriam Kent, Chris Mountford and Gerard Benedet.

“Homeowners, tradies and the building industry have been very clear – they want a QBCC that’s easier to deal with, faster, more transparent and more consistent,” O’Connor said.

“This new board brings the right mix of experience to deliver the change the industry has long been calling for … [and] is an important step in shaping a regulator that supports productivity and helps make Queensland the building capital of the nation.”

Benedet led Advance between March 2018 and late 2019 after two decades volunteering and working for former federal Liberals including Tony Abbott and Brendan Nelson, and as chief of staff to state LNP figure Tim Nicholls in government and opposition.

When Benedet was helming the right-wing lobby group, Nicholls described his former staffer as “one of the best political operators in Queensland”.

Advance spent millions on anti-Greens advertising in Brisbane at the most recent federal election, campaigned against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and has pressured both Liberals and Nationals to dump net zero.

Benedet is not the only name linked to the organisation appointed to a government board this month. Two weeks ago, James Power – a Brisbane-based hotelier who was one of Advance’s founding members – was added to Queensland’s school curriculum board.

O’Connor described Benedet, now the national executive director of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, as a governance and strategy leader, with experience overseeing major public and private sector reform programs.

His colleagues on the board have experience across local and state government, business, and the property industry.

One of the board’s five departing members, whose terms were due to end on Sunday, was Meg Frisby, who served as chief of staff to Beattie and Bligh government ministers and former Townsville mayor Jenny Hill.

On Monday, Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last announced six new members of the former GasFields Commission – now known as Coexistence Queensland – to replace those with terms also expiring Sunday.

Among those appointees was Natasha Winters, a former soldier and senior manager at the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute. She ran for the LNP in Maiwar, coming second behind the Greens’ Michael Berkman at last year’s state election.

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