[2][3] Barton Deakin is majority owned by WPP AUNZ Limited,[4] the parent company of more than 80 communications firms in Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.
[10] Morris was formerly Chief of Staff to Prime Minister John Howard, and prior to that was an adviser to Liberal Leaders Andrew Peacock and Alexander Downer.
[15][16][17] Alexander was also previously the economics editor of the Canberra Times and continues to provide media commentary, including on policy on SKY News Australia.
Griffin was formerly Chief of Staff to Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and Senior Private Secretary to John Hewson, working alongside Tony Abbott.
Atkinson was Lord Mayor during a period of extensive growth, including through World Expo 88, which is often credited as a "coming of age" event that transformed and repositioned Brisbane during the late 1980s.
[36] Barton Deakin's Federal Director, Grahame Morris, landed himself in hot water in August 2012 for remarks he made on-air on 702 ABC Sydney in relation to a television interview of Tony Abbott by Leigh Sales the night earlier on 7.30.
"[40][41] Grahame Morris was criticised for his remarks in the media again in early 2012 when, during a regular appearance on Sky News Australia's PM Agenda program, he said that Australians "ought to be kicking [Prime Minister Julia Gillard] to death."
The comment was made in relation to Gillard's support of two MPs accused of improper and illegal conduct – Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper.
[42] Grahame Morris was criticised for his remarks in the media again in 2015 when, during a regular appearance on Sky News Australia's PM Agenda program, he said that the Irish "are people who can’t grow potatoes, who have a mutant lawn weed as their national symbol and they can’t verbalise the difference between tree and the number three".
[43] Barton Deakin's Queensland office was in the media in early 2013 in relation to a lunch they hosted in mid 2012 which the then Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Ros Bates, attended as a guest.
The minister was criticised in an article published in the Sunday Mail on 10 February for not declaring the lunch as a "contact with lobbyists", which the publication claimed contravened Queensland lobbying regulations.
[47] Despite this, on 15 February 2013, Ros Bates resigned as minister citing poor health and the pressure her family had experienced as a result of a series of controversies and adverse media attention.