Our Democracy

Yesterday the government introduced legislation to create the enforcement mechanism for standards in parliament - essentially a code of conduct for MPs.

Most people who hold positions of special responsibility in our society, like doctors, teachers and lawyers, must comply with ethical standards contained in professional codes of conduct. But when it comes to our politicians, we currently have no enforceable ethical standards with clear consequences for unacceptable behaviour.

The proposed reform represents a positive step forward, but falls short of guaranteeing transparency regarding MP misconduct to the public.

Check out more from our partners Fair Agenda below 👇

Want to know who's really behind the government's policy decisions? Just follow the money. 💸💸

Under our current electoral system, wealthy corporate donors are free to bankroll expensive election campaigns by making hefty political donations. This prospect tempts politicians to choose big business over the public good.

By fixing our system, we can put decision-makers on a path that prioritises people and the planet, not profit. Sign the petition: ourdemocracy.com.au/petition-end-cash-for-access/

🔔Daily reminder🔔 that democracy extends beyond the ballot box. There are many ways to participate in democracy all year round – not just election day.

Join us in calling on the Attorney General to overhaul our dodgy lobbying laws! 📣📣 https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/petition-overhaul-lobbying-laws/
Our current lobbying laws are full of loopholes. To make our democracy more transparent and fair, we must:
👉 Expand the public Lobbyist Register to include in-house lobbyists and require regular disclosure of their activities
👉 Strengthen the enforcement of the lobbyist code of conduct with an independent regulator and proper penalties
👉 Require Ministers, Shadow Ministers and senior Ministerial staff to publish their diaries
👉 Lengthen the cooling off period to at least three years, to stop Ministers and senior staff moving into industry and lobbying jobs
✍️ Add your name here: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/petition-overhaul-lobbying-laws/

The results of the lobbying inquiry are out now. Unfortunately, they don’t go far enough.

A comprehensive overhaul of our lobbying laws is required to ensure community members have the same influence on decision makers as big business.

Come along to our 💻 online snap briefing 💻 next week on the evening of Wednesday, 15 May. You’ll hear an analysis of the inquiry’s recommendations and learn more about the ongoing lobbying campaign and ways to get involved.

RSVP here: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/lobbying-inquiry-community-snap-briefing/

The web of connections between government and the private sector runs deep – this post highlights only some of the many examples that exist!

When Ministers or senior government staff move straight into lobbying jobs related to their old portfolios, they take with them an extensive contact network, deep institutional knowledge, and rare and privileged personal access to people at the highest levels of government.

We must address our weak lobbying regulation. Join the anti-lobby lobby now: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/ourdemocracy-lobbying-reform-training-meet-with-your-mp/

If you're up for a challenge, give it a go yourself 👉🏻 lobbyists.ag.gov.au/register

Big thanks to all who submitted to the lobbying inquiry! 👏

It was heartening to witness so many people using the submission process to participate actively in our democracy. 🤩

Together, we've sent a clear message to the government that we won't stand for a lobbying industry that is free to perpetuate inequality within our political system.

Stay tuned for the Senate committee's report in late April. In the meantime, let's keep demonstrating our community's determination for change.

Make a submission now: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/make-a-submission-on-lobbying-transparency/

It’s a quick and easy process – you can read our guide, write, and send your submission, all from one webpage. 🧑‍💻

Let’s tell our government it’s time to shine a light on secret lobbying 💡and close the revolving door between big business and politics. 🚪

Submissions close this Friday, 9 February.

OUT TODAY: Data on political party income is published on the AEC’s transparency register. The thing is, it’s not all that transparent… 🤔

These numbers cover the last financial year, and are released to the public annually. This means that some of the figures can be up to 18 months old.

There’s no requirement for income below the threshold of $15,200 to be reported at all. This means big buckets of income are ‘dark money’ – money without a disclosed source.

The Albanese Government must lower the disclosure threshold and enforce real-time reporting.

There are only a few months left before we’re in the financial year of the next federal election – shouldn’t we know who is bankrolling our elections?

Webinar next week: Shining a light on political lobbying, with special guest speaker Dr Monique Ryan MP for Kooyong.

RSVP HERE: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/webinar-shining-a-light-on-political-lobbying/

Join us on Wednesday 31 Jan at 7PM AEDT over Zoom.

We’ll discuss how the lack of lobbying regulation leads to a risk of undue influence and how you can use the current inquiry to demonstrate public support for fixing our broken lobbying system.

The webinar will be co-hosted by the Australian Democracy Network, Transparency International Australia, Human Rights Law Centre and Uniting Church of Vic & Tas.

New research released yesterday by independent think tank InfluenceMap shows that sectors with vested interests in fossil fuels dominated climate policy engagement during Labor’s first year in office.

13 out of the 15 industry associations most engaged on climate policy have directly lobbied or promoted the continuation of fossil fuels during Labor’s first year.

Read InfluenceMap’s full analysis here: https://influencemap.org/briefing/Corporate-Climate-Policy-Engagement-in-Australia-26243

🤔How are politicians allowed to get away with lying on their advertising?
💡The answer is simple: it’s perfectly legal. But it shouldn’t be.

We need to reform our political advertising laws now.

You can use our simple tool to email Prime Minister Albanese and call on him to pass new laws that demand truth in political advertising:
https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/email-prime-minister-albanese/

There are loopholes in our current laws that allow industries to give gifts to politicians without having to disclose them to the public.

Instead of making direct cash donations that leave an obvious paper trail, big donors can pay tens of thousands of dollars for tickets to attend fundraising dinners or business forums where they get to rub shoulders with important decision-makers.

Because they don't currently fit into the government's definition of “gift”, they avoid needing to be disclosed with all the other cash donations, leading to huge sums of dark money infiltrating our political system.

If it looks like a gift, feels like a gift and acts like a gift...it probably is one. This Christmas, we’re calling on Anthony Albanese to close this sneaky loophole and broaden the definition of “gift”.

BREAKING: The Senate has approved an inquiry into political lobbying!

Professional lobbying is seriously under-regulated and opaque. We’ve been calling for a broad inquiry to shine a light on this practice and help us all better understand how decisions really get made in Parliament House.

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 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.

The PM better get studying! 📚

Send an email now 👉 ourdemocracy.com.au/email-prime-minister-albanese/

Let’s make sure the government knows we expect reforms that make our elections more transparent, truthful and fair.

The government will now decide which parts of the Committee’s advice it will use to develop a bill that will eventually become legislation. This will be the next big test on integrity for Prime Minister Albanese.

Join our webinar this Thursday to hear more. RSVP: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/online-supporter-briefing-jscem-final-report/

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters will soon release a final set of recommendations that will cover everything from how election campaigns should be financed, spending and donations transparency, and whether we should have truth in political advertising.

RSVP to our upcoming webinar at https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/online-supporter-briefing-jscem-final-report/ 💻

The campaign commends Dr Monique Ryan on today’s introduction of her Lobbying Bill.

This is a necessary first step in beginning to unveil the shady world of political lobbying.

A lack of lobbying regulation means we don’t know who our politicians are meeting with, or what they are discussing.

Let’s use this moment to ramp up pressure on the government by calling for an inquiry into political lobbying. We need an inquiry to uncover the full extent of the influence lobbyists have over our decision makers.

Sign the petition today! https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/lobbying-petition/

In anticipation of implementing new gambling ad regulations, the government has been engaging in negotiation meetings with executives from the gambling, TV, and sports industries. Read more here 👉 https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/sports-betting-firms-offer-to-get-out-of-the-jersey-game-20231029-p5eftd.html

As Dr Monique Ryan points out, when it comes to the details of these meetings, we are left in the dark. 🌒

It’s time for lobbying transparency, starting with an inquiry into the influence that professional lobbying.

For a fair and balanced democracy, new laws to reform election campaign finances should:
➡️ reduce corporate influence on our democracy;
➡️ protect the ability of civil society and community voices to be active in public debates around elections;
➡️ and keep parliament open to new entrants and ensure people have a meaningful choice at the ballot box.

Election campaign finance reform - the fix is in There’s talk that Labor and the Coalition are close to agreeing on new laws to reform election campaign finances. That's no surprise.

A quote from Clancy Moore's op-ed published by Michael West Journo: The invisible hand of ‘legal’ corruption costs every Australian.

Read the full piece here: https://michaelwest.com.au/the-invisible-hand-of-legal-corruption-costs-every-australian/

https://michaelwest.com.au/whos-at-the-party-the-thriving-business-of-corporate-access-to-politicians/

“The dinner dates are just a step that companies have to go through to get what they really want: a one-on-one meeting with the minister, which is where the real advocacy happens. Having paid big money to attend such events, the minister’s diary is, naturally, a little more accommodating.”

Who's at the party? The thriving business of corporate access to politicians - Michael West The business forums of both major parties sell political access to corporate Australia, events can raise hundreds of thousands in one night.

Clare O'Neil's chief of staff moving directly into an industry job is well within, or rather, due to the lack of rules.

Our current regulation on lobbying is so weak that it offers very little transparency, and creates a real risk of conflicts of interest, disproportionate influence, and corruption.

Why did the government block additional Qatar Airways flights to Australia, ultimately protecting Qantas from a competitor airline? A new Senate inquiry is asking the same question as it begins looking into past correspondence between our PM and (now former) Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce.

Clearly, increased lobbying transparency is needed.

Sign our petition for an inquiry into lobbying 👉 https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/lobbying-petition/

Senate inquiry to examine Qatar Airways decision as opposition wins crossbench support Shadow Transport Minister Bridget McKenzie has accused the government of stifling competition by banning 21 additional Qatar Airways flights into major capital cities each week.

😩😩😩

At the Ending Cash for Access webinar, we’ll explore how big money can skew our democratic processes to win political outcomes that put profits ahead of people and planet.

Tuesday 29th August, 6.30pm AEST
RSVP here 👉 https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/ourdemocracy-deep-dives-ending-cash-for-access/

Join our upcoming webinar 💵ENDING CASH FOR ACCESS 💵 to learn more about how money has infiltrated politics, and what we can do to change the system.

Guest speakers include:
- Meg Webb, Tasmanian Independent MP for Nelson
- Jason Ward, Principle Analyst at the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability

RSVP: https://www.ourdemocracy.com.au/ourdemocracy-deep-dives-ending-cash-for-access/