Political lobbyists with unfettered access to Australia’s parliament to be publicly named

Under the new lobbyist pass rules, two MPs will need to sign for a lobbyist to register for a pass, with the primary sponsor responsible for their behaviour. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Under the new lobbyist pass rules, two MPs will need to sign for a lobbyist to register for a pass, with the primary sponsor responsible for their behaviour. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Political lobbyists with unfettered access to Australia’s parliament to be publicly named MPs who sponsor lobbyists’ entry to halls of power will also be listed online under new transparency rules Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Political lobbyists with unfettered access to the halls of Parliament House – and the MPs who sponsor their passes – will soon be publicly identified in an online register, under a major shake-up of the parliamentary pass system. Under the new rules, two MPs will need to sign for a lobbyist to register for a pass, with the primary sponsor responsible for their behaviour. It will also introduce fees for lobbyist and commercial passes. A letter, seen by Guardian Australia, was distributed to federal parliamentarians on Thursday detailing the new rules. Hanson and Joyce bill taxpayers for flights to private events on luxury cruise ship hosted by Rinehart Read more The changes drastically increase the transparency of the pass system. Previously the public would have no knowledge of who has sponsored a lobbyist pass, or how many passes an MP has sponsored. There were more than 2,050 sponsored passes for access to Parliament House as of mid-2024. It’s unknown how many of those were held by paid lobbyists. The review of the policies governing access to the building’s private areas was conducted by the House speaker, Milton Dick, and the Senate president, Sue Lines. The prime minister wrote to them in March ahead of the review and suggested greater “transparency and rigour” of sponsored pass holders. In their letter to parliamentarians, Dick and Lines said they were committed to “maintaining the democratic openness of Parliament House, while ensuring that access to the private areas is appropriately managed, transparent, and aligned with community expectations”. “The revised policy strengthens the transparency and oversight of access passes issued to individuals who have privileged access to Parliament House,” the letter says. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Their review has also determined new categories for sponsored passes – with political lobbyists to remain with orange passes, while commercial representatives and advocacy and community groups are to apply for light blue passes. Commercial and community passes will now include the organisation and names of the sponsoring MPs. Access passes for former parliamentarians from states and territory legislatures will now be restricted to former premiers, chief ministers and minis