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NSW ICAC suggests sweeping changes to federal lobbying rules
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has made a sweeping series of recommendations to dramatically improve the rules over meetings between federal government ministers and lobbyists.
In an unusual intervention for a state-based corruption watchdog, the NSW ICAC will appear at a federal Senate inquiry on Monday into the transparency arrangements relating to the federal lobbyist’s register, the current system of sponsored passes that allow lobbyists access to federal parliament - and ministers - and the publication of a pass holder’s name.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock has led the push for tougher rules for lobbyists.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
ACT independent senator David Pocock has led the charge for the inquiry, and in its submission ICAC highlighted sweeping changes it has recommended at state level that would require third-party and in-house lobbyists to be named on the lobbyists’ register and for more details to be disclosed about their activities, such as which ministers or government officials they meet with and the date and location of meetings.
It has suggested mandatory reporting of meetings, publication of ministerial diaries, details about the outcome sought by a lobbyist, a lobbying regulator and disclosure if a lobbyist represents a foreign principal.
“Governments around the world have acknowledged that lobbying – if left unregulated and conducted in a hidden manner – creates opportunities for organisations or special interest groups to obtain unfair advantages and disproportionate access to, and influence over, official decision-making,” the ICAC’s submission noted.
No other state or territory or corruption body, or the new National Anti-Corruption Commission, made a submission to the inquiry but organisations including the Centre for Public Integrity, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Victorian independent MP Monique Ryan - and a raft of lobbying firms and peak bodies - have also made submissions.
The current lobbyists’ register is often out of date, and as the Council noted in its submission, “does not cover the majority of lobbyists”.
“The lobbyist register solely pertains to commercial lobbyists, excluding in-house lobbyists employed by corporations or peak bodies. This equates to only 20 per cent of lobbyists being on the Register, making the transparency benefits of the Register negligible,” their submission said.
Pocock, who has campaigned on the need for greater transparency, said there was a legitimate role for lobbying, adding “there’s currently a real lack of both transparency and accountability around the lobbying activities that take place in Parliament House that must be addressed”.
“Specifically, I believe we’re seeing strong evidence presented to the inquiry about the need to ensure there is a public register of the lobbyists who have passes and who gave them that access. Politicians have given more than 2,144 people unfettered all-hours, all-areas access to parliament house, but we don’t know who those people are.”
The Centre for Public Integrity said in its submission the inquiry was an opportunity to “finally begin to remedy the grave limitations of the Commonwealth lobbying regime”.
According to analysis conducted by the Centre, lobbyists who seek to influence the decisions ministers make have also donated $43.5 million since 1998-99 to the major political parties.
The largest peak body donor-lobbyists include the Hotels Association ($14.6 million), the Pharmacy Guild ($6.5 million) and Medicines Australia ($2.5 million).
The Centre has called for a lobbying code of conduct to be enshrined in legislation, an expanded definition of who is a lobbyist and, like the ICAC, for ministerial diaries to be published and for a federal regulator to be established.
The federal Attorney-General’s Department, in its submission to the inquiry, defended the operation of the current lobbying code of conduct.