Scott Driscoll

Scott Nicolaus Driscoll (born 16 April 1975) is a former Australian politician, national peak industry association president, company director and a businessman. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from March 2012 until November 2013, holding the seat of Redcliffe. He was also Executive Director and then elected National President of peak national industry association, the United Retail Federation.

Industry association leadership

Driscoll was executive director and then elected president of the United Retail Federation. He oversaw the rebranding of the organisation and expanded its membership footprint and political influence beyond Queensland and onto a national level. By 2010 Driscoll was referenced in the Sydney Morning Herald while pictured with Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott at Kirribilli as one of the fiercest and most recognised national industry leaders in Australia.^[1]Driscoll was also quoted extensively across national media outlets around this same period calling for a ban on the wearing of hijabs or burkas and other identity distorting garments.^[2]His fearless and sometimes outspoken views gained him a collection of corporate, industry and political rivals during his rapid rise on the national stage and under the media spotlight.

Lawfare allegations

On 22 June 2026, Driscoll broke his silence for the first time relating to the political and legal matters that forced him out of the Queensland Parliament in 2013. He announced on his personal Instagram account via a video reel that he was preparing to provide a full account backed by evidence and facts exposing the truth behind the motives and agenda of his political enemies over a decade earlier, and ultimately vindication of the allegations that were made against him. Driscoll stated "It's time for the truth to come out for the first time about what really happened to me politically and legally, why it happened, and importantly HOW they got it to work. Evidence and facts! Not more political and media agendas."^[3]

Political career

Driscoll was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the 2012 state election representing the Liberal National Party of Queensland in the Brisbane-area seat of Redcliffe.^[4] He defeated Labor incumbent Lillian van Litsenburg with a swing of 15.67%, turning the previously marginal seat into a safe LNP seat.

Driscoll became the subject of a protracted campaign played out in the media by anonymous complainants to the Crime and Misconduct Commission from November 2012 on matters involving accusations Driscoll controlled the Moreton Bay Regional Community Association. A similar series of related complaints were reported in media of fraud allegations made to Queensland Police against Driscoll with these eventually attributed to originating from then Labor Member for South Brisbane Jackie Trad^[5] After an extended CMC and Queensland Police investigation, no grounds were found to justify any action or charges against Driscoll. ^[6]

Media reports highlighted that Queensland Premier Campbell Newman had insisted Driscoll not make any independent statements of clarification to any media outlets. Newman's demand for media silence and blanket vetting of curated messages out of his office drew further attacks from various journalists against Driscoll when they discovered Newman's directives via leaked messages and only served to create an even more volatile media environment for Driscoll to ultimately contend with.^[7]

Although Newman initially stood by Driscoll, he changed his position after a number of weeks to personally recommended that Driscoll be suspended from the LNP. Newman conceded the campaign against Driscoll in the media had become a distraction for his government. On 25 March 2013, Driscoll was suspended from the LNP.^[8]

After the LNP executive initiated proceedings to have Driscoll expelled from the party he'd been a member of since high school, he instead resigned from the party the following month on 19 April 2013 and subsequently sat as an independent MP.^[9]

On 11 May 2013, just three weeks after resigning from the then government party, Driscoll's family home was raided by the Crime and Misconduct Commission.^[10] Driscoll's wife was charged with fraud and perjury as a result of the raid and investigation.^[11]

Allegations made initially by Labor opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk in March 2013 about Driscoll's member's interests register had been referred to the parliamentary ethics committee as a matter of course^[12] By 10 April 2013 the ethics committee deemed it inappropriate and unsafe to continue it's investigation due to the risk of interference with other ongoing police and CMC processes triggered by more anonymous allegations published in the media targeting Driscoll. The Ethics Committee sought to ultimately avoid the risk of tainting and impacting procedural fairness for Driscoll in any potential subsequent legal or Court processes.

Then on 3 June 2013 Newman personally imposed the full weight of the office of Premier and of the executive government onto the independent Parliamentary Ethics Committee, in a manner never seen before in the history of the Queensland Parliament. In the Ethics Committee own statement at point 14 of a report it produced, it said: "On 3 June 2013, the Premier wrote to the committee requesting the committee reconsider its decision to suspend its inquiry. As far as the committee has been advised, a request from executive government to the Ethics Committee to consider re-commencing a suspended inquiry is unprecedented in Queensland."^[13]

The Ethics Committee broke with established Parliamentary conventions and ultimately complied with the pressure from Newman. Under Standing Order 270 the Ethics Committee “shall determine its own procedure, subject to these Standing Orders and any directions of the House”; section 104C of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 confers exclusive jurisdiction over complaints concerning the ethical conduct of members on the Assembly or the committee alone; and Standing Order 272 requires the committee to conduct its proceedings “in an impartial manner and without bias.” No provision in the Act or Standing Orders authorises the Premier or executive government to direct or request reconsideration of the committee’s internal procedural decisions. Newman had ultimately publicly trashed the conventions and independence of the most powerful committee of Parliament in his blatant and demonstrated obsession with Driscoll.

Across this period of the Ethics Committee's activities recommencing at the insistence of Newman, Driscoll had provided a specialist medical doctor's letter to the Speaker of Parliament confirming medical advice that he required a period of medical leave and treatment. Across this period Driscoll continued to work in his Redcliffe electorate office and attend Parliament, on a reduced schedule in line with his doctor's medical advice.

At the same time Newman publicly ramped up his campaign in the media and in Parliament to demand that Driscoll resign from Parliament, or that the legislature take the unprecedented step of expelling Driscoll if he refused to resign of his own accord. Palaszczuk and Labor used the media attacks on Driscoll and the division caused to criticise Newman for his initial support of Driscoll, further enflaming Newman's ongoing push to remove Driscoll from the political landscape in any way possible.^[14]

On 19 November 2013, in another unprecedented move involving the Ethics Committee, given Driscoll had not attended a single committee hearing to provide any statement, offered up any evidence in person in support of his position, or been able to answer to any allegations made against him as is standard custom and natural justice, this Ethics Committee deemed Driscoll guilty in his absence of 42 counts of contempt of Parliament, four counts of failing to register interests and one count of misleading the House. The Ethics Committee recommended that:^[15][16]

• he be fined $84,000 for contempt;
• he be fined $4,000 for failing to register interests;
• he be fined $2,000 for misleading the House; and
• the Legislative Assembly move to expel Driscoll from the chamber and declare the seat of Redcliffe vacant "to protect the honour and dignity of the Legislative Authority" in line with Newman's established demand that Driscoll be forced out of Parliament if he refused to go willingly.

The committee report read that Driscoll's expulsion from Parliament was appropriate because the breeches determined against him, "brought odium on the Legislative Assembly as an institution" and had demonstrated "a want of honesty and probity not fitting a Member of the House".^[16] Newman said under Parliamentary Privilege and immune from defamation laws, that Driscoll had committed a "breathtaking, staggering deception on this house and the people of Queensland".^[17]

Driscoll resigned from Parliament later that day, citing health reasons previously referenced, while he also expressed regret he was not medically fit enough to continue to fight off the relentless attacks from Newman at this time.^[18] Both Newman and Palaszczuk stated they would support an expulsion motion, making it all but certain that Driscoll would be ejected from the chamber by his political opponents.^[16]

On 21 November 2013, Driscoll was summoned to the Bar of Parliament, now as a member of the public, to address the report by the parliamentary ethics committee and their findings against him in his absence. His solicitor, Peter Russo, spoke on his behalf and acknowledged that Driscoll had made unintended reporting errors on his members interests register in his first months as an MP, but highlighted these were honest and unintended administrative errors and not done with any intention to avoid transparency. Russo stated Driscoll would have gladly corrected his interests and assets register and the record in the normal course of events as is custom, if not for his ill health and temporary absence. Russo asked that the fine recommended by the committee be reduced to $12,000. The LNP government and Labor opposition headed by Newman and Palaszczuk were unmoved, and voted to fine him $90,000.^[19] The fine was paid by Driscoll in full the following day.^[17] The resulting 2014 Redcliffe by-election saw Labor reclaim the seat with a large swing.^[20]

Court trial and legal defence undermined

Dispite his long standing public position that he was innocent of any criminal wrongdoing, and that his intention was always to ultimately defend any charges at a trial, on 25 November 2016, Driscoll pleaded guilty to a range of charges that were laid against him.

Driscoll was caught unaware and unprepared just weeks earlier when his wife suddenly pled guilty rather than proceed to a trial herself, as she'd led Driscoll to believe was her intention for nearly three years. She had kept it secret from Driscoll that her legal representatives had been working behind the scenes with Crown prosecutors across an extended period to remove some of her more serious charges including perjury, in return for agreed guilty pleas from her on a number other lesser charges.

The bulk of the charges against Driscoll relied on the charges against his wife firstly being upheld, or ideally uncontested and pled guilty to by her. This was the ultimate outcome delivered by his wife's legal team in their secret plea deal negotiations with Crown prosecutors. The negotiations and ultimate deal had been deliberately kept secret from Driscoll by his wife up until just before it became public in open court, effectively removing Driscoll's ability to mount the legal defence against the charges his legal team had been preparing for, for over two years.^[21]

All charges against Driscoll were specifically related to the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association, also known as the United Retail Federation. None involved his elected office as a Member of Parliament.

They included 15 fraud charges, falsified meeting minutes and the contemplation of secret commissions relating to association linked matters.^[22] On 10 March 2017, Driscoll was sentenced to serve at least 18 months in prison with a full head sentence of six years.^[23]

CCC leadership and political bias allegations from 2012 onwards

During the period of significant leadership instability and allegations of political interference within Queensland’s anti-corruption bodies, the Crime and Misconduct Commission (later the Crime and Corruption Commission) was the primary agency involved in receiving complaints and conducting investigations into Driscoll. These processes included a raid on his family home in May 2013 and charges against his wife, and ultimately led to legal proceedings against Driscoll himself, none of which ended up actually relating to any alleged conduct as a Member of Parliament. The CCC’s ongoing involvement in matters concerning Driscoll and his wife, including his wife’s plea negotiations, occurred during Alan MacSporran’s tenure as chair of the CCC. In 2013 the Newman government legislated to change the remit of the Crime and Misconduct Commission and rename it the Crime and Corruption Commission on 1 July 2014. It also discharged members of the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee, which drew strong criticism and accusations of political interference from the opposition and integrity advocates. ^[24] Leadership instability followed. Ross Martin SC, appointed Chair in March 2012, resigned in March 2013 citing ill health.^[25] In May 2013 the government appointed Dr Ken Levy as Acting Chairperson.^[26] Permanent appointments required opposition support; in the charged political environment a figure acceptable to the LNP would likely have been blocked by Labor, allowing the acting arrangement to proceed without cross-party approval. Levy’s public support for the government’s reforms drew accusations of bias.^[27] Following the defeat of the Newman government and the election of the Palaszczuk Labor government in February 2015, Alan MacSporran QC was appointed permanent CCC Chair in July 2015.^[28] During MacSporran’s tenure the CCC pursued several high-profile investigations and prosecutions of elected officials in addition to Driscoll, while many later collapsed or were overturned: fraud charges against eight Logan City councillors and the mayor were dropped;^[29] former Ipswich mayor Andrew Antoniolli was convicted in 2019 but acquitted on appeal in 2020;^[30] and misconduct charges against former Moreton Bay mayor Allan Sutherland were dropped in January 2022.^[31] In 2021 a Queensland Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee inquiry found that MacSporran had not ensured the CCC acted independently and impartially, and had failed to consider all relevant evidence in the case they investigated.^[32] MacSporran resigned on 28 January 2022, citing an irretrievable breakdown in his relationship with the PCCC.^[33][34]

Electoral History

Queensland Legislative Assembly

Election year	Electorate	Party		Votes	FP%	+/-	2PP%	+/-	Result
1995	Kallangur		Liberal	9,496	36.30	1.60	46.0	8.10	Second
1998	Kallangur		Liberal	6,583	22.0	14.30	N/A	N/A	Third
2001	Kallangur		Liberal	4,366	19.10	2.90	28.60	14.80	Second
2012	Redcliffe		LNP	13,991	49.24	14.94	60.10	15.67	First

Unsubstantiated intimidation claims by rival

Bruce Mills, a former associate, made the unsubstantiated claim he was intimidated by Driscoll, and that he attempted suicide, after Mills was charged with creating false meeting minutes and was also under media scrutiny and police investigation for his own financial mismanagement of a local community association.^[35]

References