My father, Doug, was a successful politician for 27 years. When I entered Federal Parliament in 1996, he gave me one piece of advice: ‘Son, keep your mouth shut. More people talk their way out of parliament than talk their way in.’ Mark Twain put it more bluntly: ‘It is better to keep your mouth […]

The Queensland LNP has managed the transition to government well. It has enjoyed the brief honeymoon period often afforded new governments and made the most of the opportunity to point out the failings of Labor’s last term in power. But things are about to get real for Crisafulli and his team.  Monday marks 100 days […]

It’s clear 2025 is a federal election year. National political debate usually kicks off after Australia Day, but this year the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader were active for most of January. While both major parties will reserve big announcements for the campaign, January’s targeted announcements were important. Labor announced revised funding of the Bruce […]

Like all government relations agencies, the SAS Group is governed by various integrity frameworks at both the state and federal level. These arrangements are in place to ensure transparency and accountability in interactions between public officials and private organisations, and we support them. But our team doesn’t strive simply to be the same as all […]

January 2025 marks 20 years since Peter Costantini, Founding Director of the SAS Group, started advising The BUSY Group. What a privilege it has been to be part of their extraordinary journey of success.  In the early days, BUSY was primarily an Apprenticeships Support Services provider, contracted by the Federal Government to operate in Queensland.  […]

By necessity, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced changes to the Ministry this month, triggered by Bill Shorten’s departure. Queenslander Anika Wells, Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport, has been promoted to Cabinet highlighting the importance of Queensland to the government’s re-election hopes.  Amanda Rishworth is to add the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) […]

This week we see more evidence of the Prime Minister preparing for an election early in 2025. We have already seen the volume of legislation passed in the last sitting week, and this week we’ve seen a key centrepiece of Labor’s re-election plan, childcare reforms. I was expecting this announcement to be saved for January when the campaign […]

Today was the start of the first full sitting week of Queensland’s new Parliament, and it marked an abrupt halt to the niceties of the official opening week. Premier David Crisafulli dropped a stunning political bombshell immediately after Question Time, introducing sudden changes to the Standing Orders – Parliament’s operating rules – to block any […]

We’re underway! After what felt like a very long campaign, the 58th Parliament of Queensland and the Crisafulli LNP Government have been sworn in. We finished November with the first sitting of the new parliament and the introduction of the LNP’s Safer Community Laws. The Premier is determined to have these laws passed by Christmas. […]