State government arms 'war room' with communication experts Queensland's Parliament House Photo: harrisonsaragossi@gmail.com The government has called in the big guns to help sell both its asset sales agenda and bad financial news ahead of the next election. In a pre-emptive strike, Under Treasurer Mark Gray, who was appointed to the role just two months ago, has alerted Queensland Treasury staff, through an employee-wide email, that he plans to address the department's "strategic communications" issues, by hiring outside consultants. This includes how Treasury "present[s] complex information to the Treasurer and his staff, and then support[s] the Treasurer as he leads discussion[s] with his Cabinet and various Committee colleagues" and how "consistent and planned messages" can be presented to the wider community. In the email, which was obtained by Fairfax Media, Mr Gray said he has appointed two "experienced people" from Phillips Group, which describes itself as a "world class, dynamic communiation company...that works with organisations to address their critical challenges to achieve success" to "embed" with the department for six months. A further two Phillips Group consultants will provide support. "Our Communications team in Corporate Services is a great group and works flat out delivering a high standard service to the department, but I know that staff are stretched and have heavy demands on their time meeting internal needs," Mr Gray wrote to staff. I have therefore decided to supplement the capacity of the team by establishing a small strategic communications capacity to work directly with myself, the DUTs, the Treasurer and his Office in preparing simple and effective messages around complex policy and financial issues, and presenting consistent and planned messages to the broader community. Without in any way diminishing the importance of technical excellence in our content, I believe that our messages can be more effective if they are presented in more user-friendly and powerful ways, both to the Government and also to the community generally. The Phillips Group consultants will work with the in-house Treasury communications team from the 9th floor of the Executive Building "and will be dealing heavily with executives and key staff in Queensland Treasury and Trade who are preparing briefings and submissions for the government." One of those consultants lists experience with "projects of a sensitive and controversial nature...and negotiating mutall agreeable outcomes between different stakeholder groups" among her professional strengths, while another specialises in "issues and crisis management." "They will also work with the Comms team to develop an updated communications strategy for the department going forward," the email states. It is the strongest indicator yet the government is preparing its election arsenal. The premier and his ministers have repeatedly vowed not to sell assets without first obtaining a mandate, but with the government itself divided on the issue, it has a long campaign ahead of it. The appointment of Phillips Group, which is already helping to prepare firms for "contestibility" opportunities with Queensland Health, has also raised eyebrows. "They are more than PR, it is a lot more strategic than that," one source close to the government said. You go to somewhere like Phillips Group when you are serious about the message you need sold. Or are mopping up. The opposition's Tim Mulherin said while previous governments, his included, hired outside communicaton consultants, "it was usually for specific projects such as share floats." "But this sounds to me like an expensive, publicly funded 'war room' that will be focussed on spinning the government's message in favour of asset sales in the lead-up to an election," he said. Treasurer Nicholls needs to explain why this stand-alone unit is needed and more importantly - if it is part of the government's pitch on asset sales - how much taxpayers will be out of pocket for work that should be billed to the LNP. A spokeswoman for the Treasurer declined to put a price, instead directing Fairfax Media to its annual report. Last financial year, Treasury and Trade spent $123,927 on communications consultants. When the Bligh government hired outside consultants to help sell the Queensland Rail float in 2009/10, it spent $1,135,906. Phillips Group is understood to operate on up to a $20,000 monthly retainer. Consultants can charge up to $280 an hour. The spokeswoman said hiring external consultants was "a long standing practice," but would not go into detail about what particular messages they would be pushing. It's typically undertaken to manage periods of high work volume when existing departmental office teams do not have the capacity or specialist skill needed to deliver a particular outcome within tight timeframes. The public service plays no role in political campaigns.