Melbourne firm, staffed by former ministers and corporate heavyweights, is not on lobbyist register

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A well-connected firm named Dragoman Global is meeting with federal politicians on behalf of private military contractors, but its activities are invisible to the lobbying oversight regime due to the weakness of Australia’s laws.

Melbourne-based Dragoman Global is staffed by former federal ministers and departmental secretaries, corporate heavyweights and former ambassadors, and offers its clients “total confidentiality and anonymity, where required”.

The firm insists it does not lobby government and it does not put itself on the lobbyist register, meaning it is not subject to Australia’s lobbying code of conduct and its clients remain largely invisible to the public.

Guardian Australia has learned that Dragoman has been meeting with federal politicians on behalf of naval shipbuilders.

Centre Alliance crossbench senator, Rex Patrick, said Dragoman had met with him several times on behalf of shipbuilding firms.

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He said the meetings involved Robert Hill, a former defence minister and Liberal leader, who is now a counsellor for Dragoman.

Patrick said he was unaware that Dragoman was not registered as a lobbying firm.

He said that to their credit, Hill and Dragoman were upfront and clear with him about whose interests they were representing. Patrick also noted he was not a member of the government. But he said the firm should have placed itself on the lobbyist register.

“They have definitely met with me. I wasn’t aware that they weren’t on the lobbyist list,” he said. “My view is that because they make contact with people who are not just their clients, and make representations or provide opinion, that they should be on the lobbyist register.”

Labor’s shadow defence minister, Richard Marles, also confirmed he or his staff had met with Dragoman multiple times.

“The shadow minister or his office have met with representatives of Dragoman on several occasions,” a spokesman said.

Government MPs or officials are not supposed to meet with non-registered lobbyists.

Shipbuilding is a hugely lucrative area for defence contractors. The government last year announced a long-term plan to spend about $90bn on new naval ships and submarines, including on the future frigate project.

Quick guide Political lobbying in Australia: the basics Show Hide 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.

The lobbying code, frequently criticised as too weak, does not classify approaches to crossbenchers or opposition MPs as “lobbying activity”. That leaves lobbyists free to approach opposition MPs or crossbench senators such as Patrick without subjecting themselves to the lobbying rules or placing themselves on the register.

The system ignores the significant power wielded by the opposition and crossbench, particularly in tight Senate votes.

Tom Harley, Dragoman’s managing director, said the firm does not lobby government in Australia.

He said if its clients want to lobby, they will be either told to approach government themselves, or referred to a separate registered lobbyist firm.

“We certainly wouldn’t characterise ourselves as a lobbying firm,” he said.

“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.

“We recommend firms to them, we help brief those firms… sometimes in other countries, depending on the code, what the regulations are, we will make representations to government.”

Harley said if he bumped into government MPs and they wanted to discuss something related to a client, he would refuse to talk about it.

“If I bumped into a member of government and they said to me ‘what do you think of this’, I’d say ‘look that person is a client of mine, I can’t talk to you’. They can then press me, but that’s up to them… I won’t go into hypotheticals.”

Harley was unable to immediately respond to claims by Patrick and Marles that Dragoman had met with them. Follow-up questions to Dragoman were not answered by deadline.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet said it had received no complaints about Dragoman. A spokeswoman said: “The department is not aware that Dragoman engages in lobbying activities as defined in the lobbying code of conduct.”

The department puts the onus on the government MP or bureaucrat being lobbied to work out whether they are being lobbied improperly.

“The government representative can inform themselves whether a lobbyist is registered on the Australian government register of lobbyists,” the spokeswoman said.

Integrity experts and transparency campaigners have long called for the lobbying rules to be expanded to capture all of those who are attempting to influence decisions or policy on behalf of private interests.

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Even the body that represents lobbyists – the Australian Professional Government Relations Association – wants the system to change. APGRA wants the code applied to everyone who approaches government, not just lobbyists.

President Les Timar said he knew nothing of Dragoman’s activities. But he noted that only approaches to government MPs were currently captured in the Australia’s lobbying code and register.

“APGRA strongly supports the proposition that any party who engages in activities specified by the lobbying code of conduct should be registered,” Timar said. “This is the case regardless of how a person or firm may describe their business.”

In a now-removed blurb on its website, Dragoman said it was skilled at “establishing ‘in country’ company representation and achieving engagement with senior government and political figures”.

Harley said that had referred to its work overseas, not in Australia.