Sign the petition for a lobbying inquiry
Win! Senate to run inquiry into lobbying transparency
In December 2023, the Senate approved Senator Pocock’s proposal for an inquiry into lobbying.
This inquiry is a necessary first step to winning proper regulation and transparency of professional lobbyists.
Unfortunately, the Terms of Reference for the inquiry are limited – the ALP voted to exclude questions like if Minister’s diaries should be published, or the influence of revolving door appointments.
We congratulate Senator David Pocock for setting up the inquiry and acknowledge Dr Monique Ryan’s efforts in elevating this issue.
Thank you to everyone who signed our petition for a lobbying inquiry – let’s keep pushing to fix our broken lobbying laws.
Powerful industries like gambling, mining and tobacco spend millions of dollars employing lobbyists to meet with politicians in secret. Thousands of these professional industry lobbyists walk the halls of our federal parliament, working to influence policy decisions in their favour.
Lobbying is a legitimate part of a representative and functioning democracy. However, unregulated lobbying carries with it a real risk of corruption and disproportionate influence.
Lax regulation and weak enforcement are allowing the influence of powerful industries to remain secret.
We’re campaigning for a national law to regulate lobbying – to ensure it is transparent and open, protect government decision-making from undue influence, and improve public trust in our democracy.
The first step in winning these reforms is a parliamentary inquiry into lobbying, with broad remit to call witnesses and hear evidence about the extent and impact of professional lobbying on Government decision making.