Lobbyists rail against ‘unfair’ federal reforms

Summary:

The Australian Professional Government Relations Association (APGRA), which represents lobbyists, has rejected calls from the Centre for Public Integrity, Australia’s leading anti-corruption think tank, to legislate the federal lobbyists’ code. The Centre’s report, “Closing the revolving door,” advocates for stronger regulations to curb corruption, improve transparency, and enhance integrity in Australia’s lobbying industry. Key proposals include expanding the code to cover corporate and union lobbyists, extending the lobbying prohibition for retired officials and ministers from two to five years, and publishing ministerial diaries. However, the APGRA argues that such legislative changes reflect outdated views and misunderstandings of contemporary lobbying practice.

The above summary comes from an article published by the Australian Financial Review, written by Tom Burton. The full article can be found here.

Note from the Centre for Public Integrity: it’s not that we don’t understand how government works. In fact our expertise in this area is very high. The problem is that we don’t like how lobbying influences government policy work.