Media Release: Release Secret Representations which Sunk the New Lobbyist Code of Conduct
Political Parties and Integrity Commission Challenged to Release Secret Representations which Sunk the New Lobbyist Code of Conduct
Thursday, 3 July 2025
Independent Member for Nelson Meg Webb today challenged the three main political parties and the Integrity Commission to release the representations which saw the new Lobbyist oversight model abandoned at the 11th hour prior to its July 1 scheduled implementation date.
Ms Webb released correspondence from the Commission confirming the impact of the political parties’ representations upon its decision to pull the new lobbyist model despite acknowledging the current Code of Conduct means the Tasmanian public: “… has no way of knowing any details of the frequency, type or subject of lobbying undertaken by lobbyists.”
“Recent correspondence from the Integrity Commission acknowledges the current Lobbying Code of Conduct is flawed and inadequate, and does not serve the Tasmanian public’s interests,” Ms Webb said.
“Yet, despite the identified need for strong and robust lobbyist regulation, the Commission confirms in this recent letter that due to 11th hour representations by the Labor, Liberal and Greens parties it abandoned the scheduled implementation of the new model.
“Such influential representations should not remain secret.
“The irony of the Integrity Commission apparently being successfully lobbied to abandon the revamped lobbying oversight model by those who should comply with it is stark and risks further erosion of public confidence in both the standards of our political representatives and our oversight entities.”
Ms Webb said if legitimate implementation problems were identified, then those political parties should have the courage of their convictions, be prepared to walk their transparency and accountability talk and release publicly those representations detailing their concerns.
“If the political parties who have stymied Tasmanians from receiving a strong and robust lobbying oversight framework do not have the guts to come clean by releasing their objections, then the Integrity Commission must stump up and do so for them.
“Somebody actually needs to demonstrate what integrity and public accountability looks like.
“Enough of hand-wringing and opaque updates which are as clear as mud.
“It is the Commission’s choice to throw this matter back into the Parliament’s court. However, any future parliamentary debate must be fully informed, including any recent matters raised which contributed to Tasmanians now being left with an acknowledged inadequate and fundamentally flawed lobbying oversight framework in place.”
Ms Webb has written to the Integrity Commission urging public disclosure of the political parties’ representations.
“The proposed new lobbying code of conduct model was developed via a thorough public consultation process from 2022 to 2024, yet it is abandoned due to secret representations made at the 11th hour by those who should be complying with the new framework.
“Publication of the political parties’ representations would be consistent with the publishing of submissions made during the consultation process when developing the new Lobbying Code of Conduct. It would also be a much needed demonstration of transparency and accountability.”
LINKS to Correspondence between Meg Webb MLC and the Integrity Commission, dated:
