Qld: Premier Bligh appoints Mike Kaiser as chief of staff

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2007
Qld: Premier Bligh appoints Mike Kaiser as chief of staff

By Gabrielle Dunlevy

BRISBANE, Dec 7 AAP - Former state Labor MP and Shepherdson inquiry figure Mike Kaiser
is to make a high-profile return to the Queensland political scene as Premier Anna Bligh's
chief of staff.

Mr Kaiser resigned from Queensland parliament in 2001 after admitting during the Shepherdson
inquiry to involvement in vote-rigging in Labor Party ballots in the 1980s.

He is now NSW Premier Morris Iemma's chief of staff, but has always intended to return
to his home state.

Mr Iemma announced today Mr Kaiser would finish working in his office at the end of the year.

In a statement, Mr Kaiser said it would be hard to leave but the calling of his home
state was "too strong to resist".

Ms Bligh said she had been trying to lure Mr Kaiser back for some time, and was delighted
he would be starting work with her in January.

"Mike Kaiser is someone who I've known for a very long time in the Labor Party, someone
who has played a very key strategic role, not only for Morris Iemma but in the national
campaign," Ms Bligh said.

"I am very pleased to have him come and join my staff.

"We have many challenges in front of us in Queensland.

"As the new premier, I want to have a team of very smart people around me, and Mike
as the chief of staff will certainly be a great addition to that team."

Ms Bligh defended Mr Kaiser's past and said she would support his return to politics
in future if he was to choose that path.

"Mike Kaiser in the past has admitted that he did something wrong and stupid when he
was very young, he paid a very, very high price for that and I think most people accept
that he's learned from that mistake," Ms Bligh said.

Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney said the appointment sent all the wrong messages to honest
and hard-working public servants.

"I'm sure there are any number of hard-working, decent people who could perform all
the duties required as chief of staff, so why does the premier need to hire a self-confessed
vote-rorter?" Mr Seeney said.

He said it was a bad look for the government, particularly on the same day as former
WorkCover Queensland director Harold Shand appeared in court charged with paying a $60,000
secret commission to ex-minister Gordon Nuttall.

"What does Anna Bligh owe to Mike Kaiser?" Mr Seeney said.

"She needs to show better judgment, especially at a time when former ministers are
before the courts on official corruption charges."

Mr Kaiser, who begins work in late January, said he was pleased to be returning to Queensland.

"I am keen to play a significant role for a leader I have long admired and a government
that is doing great things for the people of Queensland," he said in a statement.

AAP gd/pjo/sp

KEYWORD: KAISER NIGHTLEAD

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