Property developers in New South Wales have flocked to the lobbying firm of former premier Morris Iemma – political mentor to the current premier Chris Minns – as the government embarks on the most extensive changes to the state’s planning laws in two decades.
Since Minns was elected premier in March 2023, big development companies have signed up to Iemma Patterson Premier Advisory (IPPA), where Iemma and the former Liberal MP Chris Patterson are the principals.
The lobbying firm describes itself as having “an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of government and the bureaucracy that drives the decision making processes in the state”.
The election of the Minns government and its overt policy of encouraging medium- and high-density housing throughout Sydney has proved a bonanza for the firm.
The NSW lobbyists register shows that IPPA has picked up at least 40 new clients from the property sector since the Minns government was elected.
At the time of the 2023 election the firm had just 10 property developers on the books along with clients in the healthcare, energy and tech industries.
The firm lists just five staff on the lobbyist register, including Iemma and Patterson.
Iemma, who undertakes much of the lobbying personally, has a unique selling point that few other lobbyists can offer, even those who hail from the Labor tribe.
Along with federal MP Chris Bowen, Iemma has been Minns’s political sounding board since before Minns ran for the state seat of Kogarah in 2015.
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In his maiden speech Minns thanked Iemma by name, along with several other Labor luminaries who had played a role in his transformation from political staffer for Iemma, then assistant secretary in the NSW Labor HQ, to state member for Kogarah.
In a 2023 profile Minns revealed that Iemma had played another important role in his political rise: steering his local campaign in Kogarah in 2023, along with the former member Cherie Burton. Iemma’s efforts ensured that Minns held on to his ultra-marginal seat while also delivering victory to Labor.
Since coming to office Iemma has been appointed as chair of Venues NSW and two of Iemma’s sons worked on Minns’s staff. Matthew Iemma was an adviser in the premier’s office, while Luca worked on the electorate staff. It is understood Iemma’s sons no longer work for Minns and have not done so for at least six months.
Guardian Australia isn’t suggesting Iemma has advised Minns on of any of the government’s planning reforms or that Iemma was not qualified for the Venues NSW role, to which he was appointed by cabinet following a panel assessment process. He has previously defended his son’s roles, saying they were appointed on merit.
“Housing is the top priority of the NSW government, it should surprise no one that the premier and relevant ministers regularly meet with a range of stakeholders from NGOs to housing advocates, developers, and their representatives to discuss housing issues,” a spokesperson for the premier said.
“Meetings are disclosed as required and conflicts of interest managed in accordance with established processes for declaring and managing any potential conflicts of interest.”
The ministerial diaries reveal Minns has held numerous meetings with developers and the industry lobbyists, a number of whom are Iemma’s clients.
Minns has held 41 meetings with developers or developer organisations since coming into office in March 2023, as they seek his ear on changes to the planning laws that will speed up housing construction.
Ten of them were Iemma’s clients, though only one diary entry records that Iemma was present with the client.
It’s understandable that the premier would want to hear from the development industry about what needs to change, given the priority he is giving to increasing housing supply.
But Minns has held no meetings with environmental or community groups concerned about development, and only three meetings with groups representing social and affordable housing. There have been occasional meetings with councils, mainly those controlled by Labor.
Morris Iemma and IPPA clients dominate the lists of meetings disclosed on the planning department’s register of interactions with third-party lobbyists. Photograph: AAP
Minns has also met once with the community activist group Sydney Yimby, which is advocating for more density so that young people can afford to live in a city that has become the second most expensive in the world.
The diaries only provide a very brief description of these meetings, such as “planning” or “housing policy”.
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There is one meeting with Iemma himself, described as a “catchup”, more than a year ago. But the ministerial diaries are not a complete record of their potential interaction.
They record only official meetings with third parties seeking a benefit or outcome from the government. If Minns met Iemma socially, or to discuss political matters concerning the Labor party, these do not have to be disclosed.The spokesperson declined to comment on the record about whether they have met more recently.
Iemma and IPPA clients dominate the lists of meetings disclosed on the planning department’s register of interactions with third-party lobbyists.
These meetings are generally about specific sites, such as Kurnell, Marsden Park, the private hospital at Westmead and a site in Crows Nest, but can sometimes be about how policies are operating in practice.
They have included requests for more height on buildings, changes to zonings, less affordable housing quotas and requests for state intervention over councils.
In 2025, nine of 19 meetings were with Iemma and his clients. In 2024, 14 of 24 meetings were with Iemma and his clients.
In 2024 Iemma told the Australian Financial Review that though meetings had included talks with Minns and the planning minister, Paul Scully, most were with planning officials, which Iemma put down to a preference for getting departments on side rather than ministers.
“Our preferred method of working with clients and advising them on how government works is to go to the officials who are responsible for the policies and [who] advise government,” Iemma told the Australian Financial Review.
“In many cases, the minister is not the most appropriate person to be briefed in the first instance, which is why there are so many meetings with the bureaucracy. That’s our method of operation.”
He said all meetings were undertaken in compliance with rigorous ethics and rules.
The other secret weapon that the development industry has is Tom Forrest, chief executive of Urban Taskforce, and Stuart Ayres, former Liberal MP for Penrith and CEO of the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
Forrest is a longtime acquaintance of Minns through Labor and they were colleagues on Iemma’s staff when he was premier. Forrest was Iemma’s chief of staff.
Ayres might come from the other side of the political divide, but the two became friendly during the last term of parliament.
Both have held several meetings with Minns on planning matters since he became premier, according to the diaries.
Iemma was overseas and not available for comment.
Table showing a list of Iemma Patterson Premier Advisory clients by date