Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

At the end of the motion, add “and, in respect of the Lobbying and Ministerial Accountability Bill 2007, the bill be referred to the Finance and Public Administration Committee for inquiry and report by 31 October 2007”.

The report reads at point (4):

(4)           The committee considered a proposal to refer the Lobbying and Ministerial Accountability Bill 2007 to the Finance and Public Administration Committee, but was unable to reach agreement on whether the bill should be referred.

So the committee was unable to come to agreement on that. The fact is that the committee is in default there by saying that it should not be referred. I stand to be corrected, but I would think that means that the government does not agree with this important bill being referred.

The Lobbying and Ministerial Accountability Bill 2007, which I brought into the Senate some weeks ago, requires ministers to divest themselves of all shares or move them to a blind trust within 28 days of becoming a minister. It also requires the public registration and regulation of lobbyists and it places limits on the post-separation employment of ministers for up to two years after leaving the parliament. It is a bill to increase public confidence in the body politic and in particular in the decisions made by parliamentarians. It aims to remove the spectre of undue influence being placed on ministers or, through lobbyists, on all members of parliament.

It is an important bill. It will bring Australia into line with the practice in overseas countries like Britain and Canada, through greater transparency of the activities of lobbyists in parliament and the behaviour of parliamentarians. In particular, it will remove the possibility of instant jobs for members of parliament after they leave this place, where, on behalf of sectoral interests, they are able to influence the decisions made in parliament.

This bill should be referred to a committee. It should be available for public comment and it should be on a trajectory to be dealt with and debated in this parliament during this period of government. It is not satisfactory for the committee to have determined, by failure to agree, that the bill will not be referred to a committee. I object to that. There is no reason given by the majority or the government. I do not know what is to be gained by refusing to have an analysis of this bill. That speaks volumes in itself. The inference can be drawn that the government simply does not want the accountability which this bill would bring to Australian politics. It is running away from it. Be that as it may, I am now moving this amendment so that the bill does get referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration for report by October and does get the public input that it deserves.