Who are Tasmania’s political lobbyists?
Emily Baker | ABC News | October 22, 2020
They are the people paid to influence government policies, and they are growing in number in Tasmania — but the amount of power they wield while largely shielded from scrutiny has sparked fears that “the boys are back in town”.
More than 60 businesses are listed on Tasmania’s lobbyist register, ranging from a firm headed by former federal defence minister Christopher Pyne to the local multimedia monolith Font Public Relations, which boasts the Government’s own former senior staff in its arsenal.
The register reveals which businesses have hired a firm with the intent to meet with and influence Tasmanian Government ministers, but it does not reveal if or when that lobbying occurs, why a business is lobbying, or which ministers are being lobbied.
And while meetings between Cabinet MPs and lobbyists are regulated, there is no clear code of conduct for those firms targeting Labor, Green or independent MPs, or any member of the Legislative Council — all of whom can amend and introduce legislation.
“We allow lobbyists in our democratic system, which is not to say it doesn’t raise questions of democratic process,” Australian National University lobbying expert John Warhurst said.
“The lobbyists’ services are available mainly on a fee-for-service basis, and therefore one particular danger is it benefits those who can afford to pay.”
As the stench around the Tamar Valley pulp mill infiltrated the halls of Tasmania’s parliament in 2008, former Labor premier David Bartlett introduced the lobbyist register as one of 10 initiatives aimed at restoring trust in the state’s democratic institutions.
Speaking this week, he said it was time to revisit the measures he spearheaded, including Right to Information laws, and to finally introduce one he regrets failing to include political donation reform.
“I think we’re teetering back on the edge of the place we were 10, 12 years ago when we decided to bring in this 10-point plan because we’ve seen recent elections where really significant political donations have had a significant impact on the outcome of the election,” Mr Bartlett said.
“As soon as we start to degrade trust in our democracy and our democratic institutions, it’s time to look at these safeguards again.”
Hodgman, Gutwein insiders now in public relations
As the number of registered lobbyists in Tasmania grows, the institutions designed to make sure MPs, heads of agencies and public servants make decisions in the best interests of Tasmanians are struggling with under-resourcing.
Businesses with their own in-house lobbyists, activist groups like The Wilderness Society and unions are largely exempt from joining the register.
High-profile local businesses that are included are, for the most part, represented by Font Public Relations or former Labor premier Paul Lennon’s business Parramul.
Mr Lennon’s clients include gaming and hospitality giant Federal Group, the University of Tasmania and Neville Smith Forest Products.
Font PR‘s list is too extensive to publish in full, but ranges from short-stay accommodation provider Airbnb to homelessness organisation Colony 47, as well as the Catholic and Anglican churches, and peak bodies such as the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Master Builders Tasmania and the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania.
The firm is headed by Becher Townshend with partners Brad Stansfield, who was the long-term chief of staff to former premier Will Hodgman, and Brad Nowland, who was current Premier Peter Gutwein’s deputy chief of staff. Mr Hodgman opened the Font offices last year.
Font — at that time headed only by Mr Townshend — developed the Love Your Local campaign, associated with the Tasmanian Hospitality Association, during the 2018 state election.
The THA also directly contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Tasmanian Liberals ahead of the last state election and received an almost $7 million pledge from the State Government soon after.
A Government spokeswoman said the funding was given to the THA with “key requirements” attached.
“Annual project management plans are developed each year that outline the scope of work and deliverables for each program, including KPIs, with detailed reporting to the department outlining activities and initiatives completed,” she said.
More recently, Font was paid by the state to assist with the “Stay Home, Save Lives” coronavirus campaign, while also representing groups like the Tasmanian Small Business Council and Tourism Industry Council Tasmania, both of whom eventually called for an easing of some coronavirus restrictions.
The firm’s clients, including Master Builders Tasmania, also celebrated the State Government’s announcement of a construction-led economic recovery plan.
Mr Stansfield said there were no issues with conflicts of interest, and said any potential conflicts would be dealt with appropriately.
He argued the lobbyist register provided enough transparency as it was.
“I think the system works well, I haven’t seen any evidence that it’s broken so I don’t think we should be going around fiddling with it and changing it,” Mr Stansfield said.
“What’s important is to have a clear understanding of who people represent.”
West Australian shipbuilder Austal is another of Font’s clients.
In September this year, Labor MP Shane Broad asked Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson whether he had met with Font in relation to the new Spirit of Tasmania ships — which the Premier had declared would be built in Australia, instead of overseas, against the advice of the TT-Line board.
Mr Ferguson told Parliament: “I will answer the question very directly: I am not in contact with Austal nor Font PR”.
Within half an hour — “knowing how suspicious members on the other side of the House can be” — he was back in the chamber to correct the record.
Although he had not met with Font nor Austal, he had been in receipt of emails from both.
“I again confirm I have no direct contact or discussion with Austal or Font PR about this proposal,” Mr Ferguson said.
“However, if I had it would have been entirely appropriate and I reserve the right to do so in future.”
Professor Warhurst, from the ANU, said there should be clear rules about political advisers registering as lobbyists and meeting with their former bosses.
“This really does seem a conglomerate of power in the Tasmanian situation,” Professor Warhurst said.
Mr Stansfield said it was a natural progression to transition from a political office to a lobbyist role.
“I would say it is natural that people operate in fields they understand,” Mr Stansfield said.
“I don’t think that’s wrong; I don’t think that’s unusual and I don’t think it needs to be stopped.”
Accountability in Tasmania ‘in poor shape’
There are two government-funded integrity watchdogs: Ombudsman Tasmania, which monitors whether public authorities are acting lawfully and fairly, and the Integrity Commission, which investigates allegations of misconduct.
Ombudsman Richard Connock has not been shy about lashing a lack of resourcing in past years, but the 2019-20 annual report is yet to be tabled and he declined to comment in the interim.
The Integrity Commission does not have law enforcement powers, and, unlike the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), has not hold public hearings.
It received 165 complaints last financial year and completed five investigations and 28 assessments in the same period.
Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Tom Lynch said he believed those offices’ resources had been degraded over the past decade.
“Wherever we look across the state service, the Tasmanian community should be confident that the work being done is being properly assessed and independently assessed, and those offices are being run into the ground,” Mr Lynch said.
Every media outlet in the state has suffered extensive cuts in the same period.
Journalists Adam Morton and Bob Burton, along with former ABC journalist and presenter turned media adviser Mark Horstman, launched independent news website Tasmanian Inquirer earlier this year to try to plug some of the gaps.
“Many of the key elements necessary for robust accountability in Tasmania are in poor shape: the government is becoming ever more secretive as what was once Australia’s best right to information law is treated with disdain by some agencies, we have next to no political donations disclosure, the lobbyist disclosure regime is weak and the Integrity Commission has significant limits,” Burton said.
“Throw in a weakened media and it is not a pretty picture.”
PR companies, including Font, have purchased or started newspapers in the same period.
“We saved one regional newspaper from closure, we brought two more papers back from the dead,” Mr Stansfield said.
“We’re proud of that fact, and those newspapers are edited and produced by five journalists … as far as I’m concerned that’s the end of the matter.”
‘Boys are back in town’
Tasmania also has the weakest political donation laws out of all states in Australia.
Donations under $13,800 do not have to be declared, including multiple donations under that threshold from the same donor.
Money associated with third-party campaigns — such as the business lobby-led Tasmanians for a Better Future during the 2006 state election and the gambling industry’s Love Your Local in 2018 — are not captured under the state’s laws, which are a direct replica of the federal regime.
In the months following the cash-soaked 2018 state election, former premier Will Hodgman declared electoral reform was on the way.
Two years on, now-Premier Peter Gutwein has said he was too busy dealing with the pandemic to turn his mind to the recommendations of the more than two-year-old Electoral Act Review — and those recommendations are not widely known because the report has been sitting with the state’s Attorney-General since December.
“The Premier has made the commitment that once he has fully considered the matter, he will release the report,” the Government spokeswoman said.
“However, at the moment as the election is not until 2022 it is not a priority and we remain focused on those matters that are most important to Tasmanians right now.”
The State Government has said submissions made to the review will not be released until July next year.
Nelson independent MLC Meg Webb, who has been refused access to the documents, said it was an “astonishing” set of circumstances.
“That these submissions not only remain hidden by the Government but that it goes so far as to refuse an RTI request from a member of Parliament to access them, speaks volumes in terms of the level of secrecy,” Ms Webb said.
Shadow attorney-general Ella Haddad tabled Labor’s donations bill earlier this month, which would require the declaration of donations over $1,000 (including cumulative donations), ban anonymous donations over $1,000 and place a $1 million cap on each party’s election expenditure.
It will not pass the Lower House because it does not appear to have the support of Clark Independent Madeleine Ogilvie — a former Labor MP.
Former Greens leader Christine Milne, who famously mapped out what she dubbed Tas Inc to track connections between MPs, business groups and other organisations while in the state’s Parliament, said transparency in Tasmania had not improved in the past three decades.
“Tas Inc is alive and well, the boys are back in town,” Ms Milne said.
“They are busily going through the revolving door.”
“You have no donations reform, you have underfunded media so people can’t do investigative journalism anymore, you don’t have a serious Integrity Commission, and so they get away with it.”
Emily Baker | ABC News | October 20, 2020
