A well-connected firm stacked with former ministers and senior bureaucrats will subject itself to federal lobbying laws after revelations it was approaching politicians while remaining invisible to Australia’s lobbying oversight regime.
Dragoman Global, a Melbourne-based consultancy, has said repeatedly that it does not lobby federal government and is not required to place itself on the lobbyist register.
Firms that are not on the register can hide their clients and the names of their individual lobbyists from the public.
Guardian Australia revealed earlier this month that Dragoman was meeting with federal politicians, including the shadow defence minister, Richard Marles, and a crossbench senator, Rex Patrick.
Senate estimates heard late on Monday that Dragoman was now in the process of registering itself as a lobbyist.
Dragoman confirmed to Guardian Australia it was now placing itself on the register, but said that was simply because a new client had asked “for a service that requires registration”.
The firm’s executive director, John Brenton, said “there was no need” for Dragoman to put itself on the register previously.
What do lobbyists do?
Lobbyists attempt to influence government policy or decisions on behalf of either a client or their own organisation. Ethical lobbying is a valuable and important element of a healthy democracy. It helps those who have a stake in government policy to convey their views and expertise. There are two broad types of lobbyists: third-party lobbyists, who are engaged as consultants; in-house lobbyists, who work directly for corporations or interest groups.
Who hires lobbyists?
For many Australians, lobbying conjures images of powerful corporations working to sway politicians behind the scenes. There is a truth in that. The big banks, mining and energy giants, pharmaceutical companies, casinos, Amazon, Google and Facebook all engage lobbyists. But lobbyists also work on behalf of not-for-profits and community groups, including for veterans, social workers, aged-care staff, school principals and environmental organisations.
What is the lobbyist register?
The lobbyist register is the public's only window into the world of lobbying. It's a publicly available online list of lobbying firms, individual lobbyists and their clients. The register was a huge step forward when it was introduced in 2008, but remains frustratingly opaque. It doesn't tell us who is lobbying whom, about what, or when. Compare that with the ACT, where lobbyists are required to file quarterly reports on their activities, or NSW, where ministers are required to publish their diaries. The federal register is also completely blind to the activities of in-house lobbyists.
What is the lobbyist code of conduct?
The code tells lobbyists how they must behave when approaching the government and is designed to maintain ethical standards. But the code is not legislated and has no real teeth. It goes largely unenforced and the punishments are weak. The worst sanction available to authorities is removing a lobbyist from the register. The US and Canada have fines or jail terms for law breaches.
Who keeps an eye on lobbyists?
Federally it's the prime minister's department that loosely oversees lobbying. It takes on a largely administrative role, rather than an investigative or regulatory one. Its core job is to maintain the register and communicate the code's requirements to lobbyists. It lacks independence, relies on reports of bad lobbying and rarely, if ever, takes enforcement action.
On Monday, Larissa Waters, the Greens senator, questioned officials from the department of prime minister and cabinet about Dragoman’s status.
“If they’re meeting with federal politicians on behalf of a client, that looks, smells, and sounds like lobbying to me,” she said. “So how can they be conducting lobbying activities and yet just voluntarily deeming themselves not to be covered by this code of conduct?”
The department’s first assistant secretary, John Reid, confirmed Dragoman had lodged the paperwork to place itself on the register.
“We understand as of last week that Dragoman was in the process of having itself put on the register and that they’re in the stages of filing necessary statutory declarations,” Reid said.
Patrick, the Centre Alliance senator, said Dragoman used one of its counsellors, Robert Hill, a former Liberal defence minister, to approach him on behalf of naval shipbuilders.
Patrick said he thought Dragoman was a registered lobbyist firm and said he would constitute their actions as lobbying.
Australia’s lax lobbying regime only classifies approaches to government MPs as lobbying, not those made to crossbenchers or members of the opposition.
Last month, the Dragoman managing director, Tom Harley, said the firm did not lobby government. He said if clients wanted lobbying services, they would typically refer them elsewhere.
“We certainly wouldn’t characterise ourselves as a lobbying firm,” he told Guardian Australia.
“I think where companies need to deal with governments in Australia, particularly, we recommend that they go and hire lobbying firms. Most of them do that.”
The department told Senate estimates that its officials had not pressured the firm to register. Stephanie Foster, the department’s deputy secretary for governance, said the change wasn’t necessarily due to recent media coverage.
“It could be in response to ministers advising them that they need to be on the register if they are to deal with them,” Foster said.
The lobbying regime relies significantly on firms either voluntarily placing themselves on the register or complaints from individuals who are being lobbied.
The department has a largely administrative role in overseeing lobbying in Australia and rarely, if ever, enforces breaches of the rules.
It has a “portion of one” staff member dedicated to administering the lobbyist register.
“But we do surge that capacity every six months when there’s a mandatory update of the register,” Reid said.
The department confirmed on Monday it had received 11 allegations about bad lobbying behaviour since 2011 and has removed a single lobbyist from the register.
A critical audit report from 2016 made a raft of recommendations to improve oversight around lobbying. One of the recommendations was to implement performance measures and an evaluation framework to check whether the lobbying system is actually fulfilling its aims.
The department said it had done no work on that recommendation. But it said responsibility for lobbying was moving to the attorney-general’s department, and the focus of improvements had been on a new computer system to improve visibility.
• This reporting is supported by the Susan McKinnon Foundation through the Guardian Civic Journalism Trust
