Former Queensland Housing Minister Bruce Flegg chose not to be fully transparent about contact he'd had with his lobbyist son when investigated by a journalist, a court has heard.
Dr Flegg is suing his old media adviser, Graeme Hallett, for defamation in the Supreme Court in Brisbane.
The ex-staffer claims the Moggill MP had misled parliament by failing to disclose contact with his lobbyist son, Jonathon.
Mr Hallett told the trial on Thursday a political journalist had emailed him in October 2012 to ask about two instances on Dr Flegg's lobbyist register involving the MP's son Jonathon and whether there had been any more contact that wasn't included.
Mr Hallett said he was aware of other contact, including a "deeply troubling" email from Jonathan to his father recommending a man named Chris Brooks for a deputy director-general position.
He said while Jonathon, who worked for lobbying company Rowland Communications, was eager to correct the register to include about six other instances, Dr Flegg and his chief-of-staff, Fraser Stephen, were not.
"(Dr Flegg) indicated to me that this is only one reporter ... asking questions about this and if it's unconfirmed, we should be able to deal with in a way that can virtually make it go away," Mr Hallett told the court.
Mr Hallett said they decided to respond to the journalist without mentioning any other lobbying contact between Dr Flegg and his son until those instances had been "confirmed".
The tactic flew in the face of his "risk-adverse" advice to Dr Flegg to be open and transparent about his contact with Jonathon, Mr Hallett said.
He said he'd given that advice because the media had regarded Dr Flegg as a "trouble-prone and gaffe-prone" politician in the past, and former minister Ros Bates had also come under fire for inaccuracies in her own lobbyist register.
Dr Flegg resigned from cabinet a day after a freshly sacked Mr Hallett aired the claims against him at a November 2012 press conference.
The MP has denied he was lobbied by his son and gave evidence last month that the press conference held him up to public ridicule and devastated his political career.
The trial, before Justice Peter Lyons, continues.
