Australian MPs sponsor lobbyists for Parliament House access passes

First register release covers about 10% of existing passes, transparency campaigners say

The Guardian reported that a public register released on Tuesday showed Labor and Coalition MPs facilitating permanent access to Parliament House for lobbyists representing Australia’s largest resources companies and the lobby group for online gambling companies. The data names ministers and shadow ministers from both parties, along with other Labor, Coalition and Nationals MPs, as sponsors for companies including Woodside Energy and ConocoPhillips, for industry groups including the Minerals Council of Australia, and for betting lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia.

Under updated rules, two MPs must sponsor a lobbyist who applies for a pass to the building’s private areas. The sponsoring MPs must be disclosed on a public register, as must MPs who sponsor other private interests. A review of the policies governing that access was conducted by House speaker Milton Dick and Senate president Sue Lines. In March, prime minister Anthony Albanese said greater “transparency and rigour” were needed for sponsored pass holders. Until those rules took effect, there was no transparency about the more than 2,000 pass holders with access to the building, a situation that drew frustration among MPs including ACT independent David Pocock.

Woodside Energy, Australia’s largest fossil fuel company, holds three access cards sponsored by Labor politicians Meryl Swanson, Glenn Sterle and Tracey Roberts and by Coalition MPs Melissa Price, Rick Wilson and Susan McDonald.

The Minerals Council of Australia has passes sponsored by McDonald, by Coalition frontbenchers Angie Bell, Matt O’Sullivan and Ted O’Brien, and by Labor’s Dan Repacholi, the member for Hunter. Repacholi also sponsors access for the Pharmacy Guild and for Alinta Energy, the latter alongside shadow energy minister Dan Tehan. American oil and gas company ConocoPhillips has access sponsored by Nationals MP Colin Boyce and Labor’s Mike Freelander, and gas lobby group Australian Energy Producers is sponsored by David Smith, the member for Bean.

The Pharmacy Guild has two sponsored passes, signed by Labor’s Gordon Reid, Anne Urquhart, Repacholi and Josh Dolega.

Responsible Wagering Australia, which represents bet365, Sportsbet and Betfair, holds two passes primarily sponsored by shadow health minister Anne Ruston and Labor’s Raff Ciccone. Kai Cantwell, the group’s chief lobbyist, was a former staffer to Ruston when she was a minister in the Morrison government, and he was a key witness in an inquiry considering Labor’s legislation to curb gambling advertising earlier this year.

Prominent lobbyist Ben Oquist, a former Greens staffer and the husband of Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, is sponsored by energy minister Chris Bowen and industry minister Tim Ayres.

ACT independent David Pocock sponsors passes for the Australian Construction Industry Forum, Bees and Blossoms, Queensland University of Technology and Chanel Contos’s Teach Us Consent Global. Greens leader David Shoebridge sponsors access for the Australian Peace and Security Forum, a registered non-profit which is helping lead a public inquiry into the Aukus defence pact.

The Australian Democracy Network said as many as 80% of registered lobbyists are still not on the register, and the group has highlighted problems with the existing lobbyists register, a separate transparency tool administered by the Attorney-General’s Department. “Unfortunately today’s partial disclosure only covers about 10% of total existing passes, meaning Australians still can’t see the full picture,” spokesman Christian Slattery said. “The new transparency system doesn’t give meaningful information to the public about who our elected representatives are meeting with, when they’re meeting them, or why.” Slattery called for new national laws to cover lobbying conduct and establish a regulator.

The first release of the data provided very limited detail, with a backlog of more than 1,000 applications yet to be processed. Journalists working in Parliament House also have to apply for an access pass, with support from a bureau chief or editor and endorsement from representatives of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Committee.

According to the Australian Democracy Network, the disclosures leave most of the more than 2,000 pass holders with access to the building unaccounted for. What the register does show is that ministers and shadow ministers from both parties, along with other MPs and lawmakers from the Greens and independents, have sponsored access for lobbyists representing energy and mining companies, industry associations and betting firms.