It is more than a decade since the failure of a member’s Bill which included provisions for registering lobbyists, a lobbyists’ code of conduct and public reporting of lobbying activity. Rather than attempt to address what were considered to be flaws in that Bill by redrafting it, the government in 2013 dropped it altogether.
Since then, the issue of lobbying has not gone away, but flurries of concern have been met by successive governments with much hot air and an unspoken resolve to do as little as possible.
When the Labour-led government was under pressure on this issue in 2023, its action included removing swipe-card access to Parliament for lobbyists, offering support for the development of a voluntary code of conduct and starting long-term work on policy options to regulate lobbying.
The voluntary code is widely regarded as pointless, and no decisions have resulted from the policy work.
The last update on it from the Justice Ministry was in June last year.
Given that, it is hard to take Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith seriously when he says the government is actively considering the best way forward on lobbying.
Nobody is suggesting people should not be able to seek the ear of our politicians on issues which concern them.
Indeed, lobbying by the wool industry and others who want to see wool (ideally from New Zealand) used in our publicly funded buildings would have contributed to last week’s announcement about that.
That there was lobbying in this instance was not exactly secret. That is not always the case.
In the short time the coalition government has been in power there has been murkiness about the influences on policy making, including from Big Tobacco, the gun lobby, infant formula manufacturers and the mining industry, to name a few.
We should know who lobbyists are and whether they have ease of access not offered those who might have a contrary view.
For years, those seeking health reforms to reduce harm from alcohol, junk food and tobacco have been raising concerns about their lack of access compared with lobbyists from those organisations which oppose such moves.
As the campaign points out, New Zealand lags behind most OECD countries in regulating lobbying.
It is calling for a public register where lobbyists would have to detail their contacts with members of Parliament, political staffers and senior public servants, and a mandatory code of conduct, all enforced by an Integrity Commission.
(Coincidentally, the Integrity Institute launched an "unauthorised" lobbying and influence register last week which will detail the political activities and influence of companies, lobbying firms, industry groups, unions and non-governmental organisations — anyone who has a hand in shaping government policy.)
The campaign also wants an end to the much-criticised revolving door situation where former government ministers, MPs and senior public servants can depart their public roles to immediately become private lobbyists on issues where they had official dealings. The campaign proposes a "cooling off" period of one to three years.
Better management of conflicts of interest is also on the campaign’s wish list.
It wants a beefed-up Official Information Act which would be overseen by an Information Commissioner with enforcement powers.
It joins calls for better political donation rules which would put caps on individual donations, a lower disclosure threshold (donations of $1500 a year compared with the current $5000) and donors restricted to registered voters. There has been little enthusiasm for such change from the major political parties to date.
It would be good to think the gravitas brought by respected former politicians Anne Tolley, Helen Clark and Chris Finlayson to the campaign will resonate with current government leaders.
Continuing to ignore these issues risks chipping away at trust in our democratic process and government, something which is already a little shaky.
