Crossbench senators consider throwing a spanner in lobbying revolving door

Sydney Morning Herald October 16 2017

Mario Christodoulou, Patrick Begley

Crossbench senators are discussing the biggest clampdown on federal lobbying in a decade, including five-year bans on former government ministers working as lobbyists and the creation of a new "integrity commissioner".

The proposal, drawn up by independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, is aimed at increasing transparency and includes new restrictions aimed at disrupting the revolving door between Parliament and the lobbying industry.

Under the proposal, there would be new legislative penalties for those who breach the lobbying code of conduct and an independent umpire with investigative powers to provide oversight of the industry.

Unions, industry groups and in-house lobbyists for the first time will come under a mandatory industry code, policed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

"This plan is a fix – it radically transforms the way the lobbying industry is regulated," Senator Lambie said, in a piece published on Sunday by Fairfax Media.

"They say sunlight is the best disinfectant; my plan blows out the ceiling."

The proposals have been met with some support by senators, who say the industry needs cleaning up.

Victorian senator Derryn Hinch said he supported greater restrictions.

"I am seeing people in my office like Stephen Conroy, or there's Martin Ferguson representing the mining industry, Adam Giles representing Gina Rinehart – these are doyens of the labour movement suddenly spruiking for big business, it's surreal," he said.

"There should be a far bigger firebreak between what they did and what they start to do again."

However, Senator Hinch questioned whether five years was too long.

"My gut says two years is enough to break the nexus," he said.

"The way information is spread so fast these days, if you have been out of the loop for two years, well, you're pretty much out of the loop."

Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said current rules "contain holes big enough to drive a truckload of money through".

"The Greens are ready to work with Senator Lambie to restore some public confidence to our democratic institutions," she said.

There are an estimated 5000 lobbyists in Australia, but only a fraction have to register their details or abide by the federal code of conduct.

The code is administered by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. There are no significant penalties for violating it besides deregistration and breaches are not disclosed to the public.

Also, meetings between lobbyists and ministers are not publicly available – unlike NSW and Queensland – and there are no penalties for historic breaches discovered after a lobbyist retires.

Under current rules, ministers are required to wait 18 months before working as lobbyists while their senior staffers have to wait 12 months.

University of Melbourne politics lecturer George Rennie, an expert in lobbying, said he has seen an increase in the rate of former ministers leaving their posts and taking up work for companies with a direct interest in their former portfolio area.

He said it was unclear what role the ministers were performing in the companies and whether they were working as lobbyists, because they did not have to register their details.

"The laws are inadequate; it is nearly impossible to tell whether a minister has put the interests of a future employer ahead of their responsibility to the country," he said.

There's a long tradition of senior government ministers gaining employment as lobbyists or with industry bodies after leaving office.

Labor's former resources minister Martin Ferguson joined the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association eight months after leaving office. His parliamentary colleague, former trade minister Craig Emerson set up his lobbying firm, Craig Emerson Economics, in the month after leaving office.

More recently former small business minister Bruce Billson went on to work for the Franchise Council of Australia, six months after leaving his portfolio.