You might be surprised to learn that most of the people lobbying the federal government are exempt from our national lobbying rules.
In the lead-up to this year's federal budget, proposed taxes on gas exports were rejected while gambling reforms were weakened after industry pressure. Both cases showed how effectively powerful industries can shape political outcomes behind closed doors to benefit their narrow commercial interests.
A tax on gas industry profits and stronger regulation of gambling advertising are both incredibly popular policy proposals that would benefit most Australians. So in a cost of living crisis, why are wealthy corporations winning outcomes that only benefit their financial bottom line?
One explanation is that Australia's national lobbying laws are profoundly broken. The system supposed to protect public interest decision-making from industry influence is riddled with structural failures that enable the state capture of government.
It's not that lobbying itself is illegitimate - many organisations, including unions, charities, religious groups and businesses seek to exercise their democratic right to speak with decision-makers and influence policy. However, when lobbying is conducted by extremely powerful and cashed-up vested interests - from gambling, to gas, to weapons industries - it creates a significant imbalance in our democracy. Numerous state anti-corruption bodies have identified that poorly regulated lobbying poses inherent risks of corruption, undue influence, and unfair access.
Right now, the ACT Integrity Commission is running an inquiry into lobbying and influence in the capital that further exposes how outdated federal lobbying laws have become. The inquiry will examine whether the Territory's lobbying and political influence rules are strong enough to protect transparency, accountability and public trust in government decision-making.
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It is now the fourth state or territory review of lobbying laws under way, further exposing how badly the Commonwealth has fallen behind. Last year, a report by Transparency International found Australia's lobbying rules were the joint weakest in the country, leaving the door ajar for corruption and undue influence.
A 2024 Senate inquiry into lobbying received almost 350 public submissions, and ultimately recommended an independent review of the lobbying rules - two years on, the government is still considering its response.
If the ACT strengthens its rules following its inquiry, the Albanese government will face growing pressure to explain why Canberra continues to operate one of the nation's weakest lobbying regimes.
Kevin Rudd was the last prime minister to pursue significant lobbying reform, but the rules haven't changed much in the two decades since. Instead, the opaque federal rules have remained dominated by loopholes, weak disclosure, insider access, and ineffective penalties.
As the system stands, these rules fail to regulate about 80 per cent of federal lobbying activity at all, with the vast majority of industry lobbyists employed directly by major corporations and peak industry bodies not required to appear on the lobbyist register.
This excludes many of those doing the most influential lobbying in Canberra, including the online gambling sector's peak lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, and major gas producers Santos and Shell. And neither of the nation's most powerful industry groups - the Minerals Council and the Business Council - appear on the register at all.
Senator David Pocock's push to bring much-needed transparency to the list of parliamentary passholders further highlights the discrepancy between lobbying rules as they are, and what they should be. There are currently over 2200 passholders with privileged access to the inner sanctum of the federal parliament, yet only 700-odd lobbyists are listed on the official register.
The Australian people deserve to know who is walking the halls of power, whose interests are represented, and who they are meeting with.
It's not just a lack of coverage that makes federal lobbying rules among the weakest in the country. They do not require disclosure of meetings between lobbyists and politicians, unlike places like Queensland. They lack an independent watchdog with strong enforcement powers, routine in NSW. And they do little to address the well-oiled revolving door between politics and industry, where former ministers, advisers and senior officials routinely move into lobbying and government relations roles connected to sectors they once regulated.
There is broad public support for policy changes that would address these problems, like banning former ministers from lobbying for five years after they leave parliament, and opening ministerial diaries.
But cynicism rises when politicians refuse to regulate the lobbyists that influence them. And people stop believing decisions are being made fairly when lobbying happens behind closed doors and they cannot see who is influencing policy decisions.
If the ACT reforms its lobbying rules while Canberra refuses to act, the Albanese government will increasingly look like the last defender of secrecy and a broken system - and the lack of public trust in politics will only continue to grow.
