David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the current lobbying rules are ineffective, do not meet public expectations and should be reformed to:

(a) ensure all lobbyists are captured by a code of conduct;

(b) provide effective deterrents and penalties for lobbyists who break the rules; and

(c) allow Australians to know which lobbyists have been given sponsored passes to access the corridors of Parliament House.

I move this motion today to discuss the appalling state of our lobbying rules in Australia. 'Rules' is, in fact, generous when you look at the set up that we have allowed to have in place when it comes to lobbying in Parliament House, in the people's house. Most Australians probably assume that we have decent lobbying laws. Yes, we have a lobbyist register and I will talk about that later, but we also have some 2,000 people who have sponsored passes and we have no idea who they are. Access is a very good thing. This is the people's house. There should be access, but Australians should know who is accessing their house.

Recently. my office and I were speaking with a US barrister about the differences between our countries' lobbying rules. Again, most Australians probably assume that we have equivalent or probably better lobbying rules than the United States has, but she was shocked and appalled. Although their system is far from perfect, in the US there are laws preventing the undue and unethical influence of private interests on people in congress. What's more, there are criminal penalties for breaking those laws, which can involve jail time. In Australia there are no laws. There is a code, which in reality is more of a guideline, and it doesn't even apply to the majority of lobbyists, just those that lobby on behalf of other companies—professional lobbyists.

It's clear to me that many people in this chamber just don't care about this. This has been in place for a long time, and we have seen no action from either side of politics. When raising concerns with people in the relevant positions, I've been dismissed like I'm trying to cause an issue about something that really isn't of importance. This does matter. This matters because influence over decisions that we make in this place has a huge effect on the people that we are here to represent. We are here to make decisions that should be in their best interests.

The first thing to note is that not all lobbyists are captured by the code of conduct. The code only captures those lobbyists that lobby on behalf of other companies, and in my experience these people are least likely to be an issue. Most people don't know it but in-house lobbyists—most lobbyists—are not subject to the code. This means that we don't know who they are, we don't know where they're from and we don't know what they're doing. They're not bound by any professional or ethical standards, and they're completely free to wander the building to bump into MPs and senators. The insidious nature of this power cannot be overstated. When there is controversial legislation it's not uncommon to see scores of in-house lobbyists lining the hallways seeking to influence the votes of parliamentarians. That's their job. But the community expects public scrutiny of who these lobbyists are and why they wield such power. Worse than that, in-house lobbyists are not even held to any ethical standard

Here's where it really breaks down. Under the code, a former staffer is prevented from lobbying on behalf of a company that they had policy responsibility for while they were in government. So if they were a staffer or an adviser in the communications minister's office they couldn't go to lobby and then take on Sportsbet as a client. But nothing prevents them from just getting a job at Sportsbet as its in-house lobbyist. This is not an actual example, but I do have a long list of actual examples. This loophole is so far below any conceivable ethical standard. Our rules are so loose that we allow people who have worked in the government to go and advise companies on how to manipulate the government.

This leads me to my second point. There are no deterrents or penalties for lobbyists who break the rules. Let's say a lobbyist seriously breaches the rules. The worst penalty that they can receive is a three-month break from lobbying. Sit it out for a few months. Go and put your feet up. Work in the office. You just can't come into Parliament House. In 90 days time, you're back in business. That's not a bad outcome for a serious breach of a generally unenforced code. The Attorney-General can enforce a more strict penalty, but none that would act as an effective deterrent. Last time I checked at estimates no Attorney-General had actually used that power.

I challenge the average Australian to try to get signed in and wander the halls to see an MP or a senator. It's not possible. But, if you're a lobbyist, you run free in these halls. You can get into every corner of this building, lurk outside offices, hang out at Aussies or the trough and orchestrate chance encounters with politicians and their staff. The community can't do this. And yet we have no idea who these people are. There is no requirement for any transparency over the use of these passes. There are 2,000 people roaming the halls. We have no idea who they are.

One of the only things we are signed up to where we do have obligations is the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which expressly prohibits officials from engaging with big tobacco companies on matters of public health policy. Yet, because we have such a loose system, we know that they wander these halls. I can't imagine that they are here for a long black at the cafe. They are here to ensure that the parliament doesn't enact tougher rules on their products. I notice that a tobacco bill was introduced into the House this week, so I expect that we will be seeing even more of them in the parliament over the next few months.

Australians want more transparency. They want more integrity from the government. Indeed, we've been promised it. We hear talk of transparency and accountability, but when it comes to lobbying reforms we're not hearing anything. This is important. This is important for our democracy. I urge the government to look into this area and to listen to Australians who are saying: 'We want that transparency. We want to know who is potentially influencing decisions.'

We're in the situation where most states and territories are far ahead of the Commonwealth in this regard. In New South Wales there are ethical obligations that apply generally to all those who are lobbying government officials, not just third-party lobbyists. In Queensland, lobbying activities are disclosed publicly every fortnight. Here in the ACT lobbying activities are also disclosed publicly so that the people of the ACT can see precisely which interests are trying to influence the government. It's not enough to talk about integrity, though we hear many talk a big game in that regard; it's time that we ensure that there is integrity in all corners of our parliamentary system. We need better lobbying rules. In fact, we need laws. Australians deserve better.