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This was published 5 months ago
Burke’s tip to Basil: Cull the Clan or go nowhere with the Libs
Brian Burke emailed City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas before he confirmed his tilt at politics on Saturday, offering political wisdom about the WA Liberal Party and the powerbroking faction, known as the Clan.
The corporate dealings of former premier-turned-lobbyist Burke have been thrust into the spotlight this week after it was revealed he had approached the offices of ministers Reece Whitby and Sue Ellery on behalf of his clients.
Former WA Premier Brian Burke.
The 76-year-old was also engaged by Live Entertainment WA to provide advice to the event industry as it sought assistance packages from the McGowan Labor government in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Burke’s approaches to Labor ministers drew scathing criticism from WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam, who speculated his influence in the Labor Party was more than a phone call to the front desk of a ministerial office.
But on 6PR’s Mornings, her star candidate Zempilas said he’d had a short email exchange with Burke recently, among other conversations with former WA Premiers Colin Barnett, Mark McGowan, Richard Court and Peter Dowding, in the past 18 months as he had been mulling a move to run for the Liberals in Churchlands.
“He sent me an email ... he said ‘g’day’ and ‘I think you’re doing a good job’ or something to that effect,” he said.
“I think I sent back a reply saying ‘nice to hear from you’ or something like that.
“I’m not close to Brian Burke or any of those former premiers but through the benefit of a 30-year media career here in Perth, do they know how to get to me? And might I say g’day to them if I see them at an event or function? Yes, of course.”
When asked what he spoke to Zempilas about, Burke said it related to the Clan – an influential faction exposed in late 2021 with the leak of a tranche of five years’ WhatsApp messages between members of the faction.
“I contacted Basil to tell him the Liberal Party is going nowhere while it continues to be controlled by the Clan,” he said.
Mettam said the Labor Party had more questions to answer about its relationship with Burke and was emphatic none of her MPs had been in contact with him.
“Roger Cook may be comfortable but I’m sure the taxpayers of Western Australia have very real concerns about the extent to which this twice-jailed former premier [has influence] within WA Labor ranks,” she said.
“I’m very comfortable in saying that there is no connection between Liberal Party members and Brian Burke as well.”
Burke said he was not worried by any level of scrutiny of his recent affairs and rebutted Mettam’s criticisms.
“I am not surprised at Ms Mettam’s extravagant claims about which we will no doubt hear more,” he said.
In response to questions about whether Burke had spoken to any Liberal MPs in the last term of government, Burke said he’d had: “private conversations with many people in the past couple of years but will only release details of those conversations when Ms Mettam [releases] details of her private conversations.”
The Labor Party has tried to distance itself from Burke since a 2007 Corruption and Crime Commission probe into lobbying in WA, including lobbying activities of Burke, that cost the jobs of several Labor ministers.
Premier Cook said there was a ban on government ministers and staff from speaking to Burke and on Friday stressed that no ministers had been in contact with him.
“[Burke] did not speak with any policy officers, did not speak with any ministers and that’s an important distinction,” he said.
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