Lobbyists with orange "sponsored passes" have access to every office in Parliament House. Credit:Brendon Thorne Unions like the CFMEU are exempt. Industry groups like the Minerals Council of Australia are exempt. In-house lobbyists for tobacco companies are exempt from the rules. Tony Abbott could resign tomorrow, take up a job working as a third-party lobbyist, and he'd be completely within the rules. Malcolm Turnbull could resign as Prime Minister tomorrow, take up a job as the head of the Business Council of Australia on the same day, and he'd be completely within the rules. The rules attempt to punish former ministers for taking up jobs as lobbyists by stripping them of their ministerial responsibilities. That's right. Former ministers get punished by being made former ministers. Our system of checks and balances reads like a typo.

I'm trying to change that. My plan takes the lobbying code of conduct, which was introduced in 2008 by the Rudd government, and turns it into a mandatory industry code, policed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It will mean anyone who lobbies — whether they're a third-party lobbyist for the mum and dad shop down the road, or an in-house lobbyist for Google — has to follow the same standards. One of the standards my plan introduces is that you can't register as a lobbyist if you've been a minister in the last five years. Five years might seem like a long time, but it's what is in place in Canada and the United States. In Trump's America, administration officials are banned from lobbying for five years after leaving office, and if they break that ban they risk civil proceedings. Our lobbying restrictions are eighteen months and the punishment for breaking them is absolutely nothing.

Doesn't that embarrass you? Doesn't that anger you? This plan is a fix. It radically transforms the way the lobbying industry is regulated. They say sunlight is the best disinfectant; my plan blows out the ceiling. For the first time in Australia's history, ministers who jump from cabinet into lobbying won't just be breaking the rules — they'll be breaking the law and liable for financial penalties up to $63,000. For the first time, every body who lobbies in Canberra will be bound to the same ethical code. For the first time, there'll be an independent umpire – we'll establish a Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner, with investigative powers and strict oversight. Which means, for the first time, we'll have transparency. Lobbyists aren't bad people, and lobbying isn't a bad thing. Environment groups lobby for environmental protections or against coal mines or gas wells. Charities lobby for funding. Unions lobby for workers and industry groups lobby for employers. There's nothing murky about that, if it's done within the rules.

But everybody who's affected by a government decision should have the equal right and opportunity to put their case to their elected representative. Our system doesn't grant equal access when only the small end of town has to play by the rules. I was brought up believing that it's not fair to have one set of rules for one group and another set of rules for another. What's happening now isn't fair. It's invisible, it's unregulated, and deal by deal, compromise by compromise, it's chipping away at our faith that politics can be a force for good in the world. The reason Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull have all put in place a ban on former ministers taking jobs as lobbyists is because they have all recognised that it's too easy for public office — and public trust — to be abused for an individual's personal gain. It just keeps happening. Loading Their bans haven't worked, but they could. We're heading for a cliff that we don't have to fall down.



Jacqui Lambie is a Senator for Tasmania.