Lobbying to Political Parties

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Greens Senator Larissa Waters (Qld), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) reports in the media that not a single lobbyist has been punished for breaching the Lobbying Code of Conduct (Code) in the past five years,

(ii) that in October 2013, newly retired Labor Government Minister for Energy and Resources, Mr Martin Ferguson, took up a position at the peak body for the oil and gas industry, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, advocating for the commercial interests of very industry he was in charge of regulating only months before, and

(iii) that Mr Ferguson is not classified by the Code as a lobbyist because he is employed directly as an in-house lobbyist by an industry peak body; and

(b) calls on the Government to update the definition of a lobbyist to ensure that in-house lobbyists for industry and industry peak bodies, such as Mr Ferguson, are captured by the regulation of the Code.