Let’s not egg on lobbyists this Easter

WITH ICAC sniffing around, I have to get something off my chest. It’s Easter, traditionally the time for renewal, so here goes.

WITH ICAC sniffing around, I have to get something off my chest. It’s Easter, traditionally the time for renewal, so here goes. About eighteen years ago, a very well-known and well-respected national business figure called me and asked if I would be at home to receive a gift. It was to be a case of Grange. Fortunately, or as some may think, unfortunately, I told him that I would never be at home for such a purpose. To his bewilderment and what seemed (on the telephone, at least) dismay, I had to ask that the courier assigned to deliver the unsolicited gift be called immediately and told to execute a swift U-turn. In what proved to be an interesting exchange, in that it provided me with some insights into world of favours, the generous individual told me that he and his company had been extremely impressed with a column in which I had excoriated the NSW government for its failure to spend on much-needed infrastructure. He was from a major construction company and believed that my view might add some weight to the argument that his organisation had placed before the pertinent department. As flattering as that opinion of the value of the written word may have been, the gift was totally out of the question. He even semi-seriously suggested that he retrieve the case and deliver it personally, perhaps to make it look less like what I thought it would appear to any ordinary mortal — a blatant pay-off. How he could possibly have thought that a case of extremely expensive wine already in the hands of a courier, no doubt ordered by a senior secretary or personal assistant, with its purchase unquestionably signed off by a senior executive, could be hidden, or indeed, would be acceptable if somewhat disguised, escapes me to this day. But it does, just as the case of Grange escaped me then. I look back and think how easy it would have been to accept the surprise box but what of my conscience and what of the thinking of those who, probably with the best of intentions, had sent it out? Did they think my words were for sale, that I would be susceptible in the future to their arguments, blandishments, knowing that I had once taken their metaphorical shilling? Politicians and the public can always hit back at the media over allegations of venality and corruption, given that members of the media, generally, are equality susceptible to bribery (travel trips, Barangaroo spin trips, fashion garments from designers, endless free meals) and so on. There is even a little ditty that used to be heard around Fleet Street when newspapers were still published in the area and hacks still drank. One version went: “There is no need to bribe nor twist the average British journalist, when you see what will he do, unbribed, there is no reason to …” But there are no doubt some who like having shiny cars sent for them, tickets to the big sports events, the rock shows, and gifts at Christmas — just like the politicians they report on. That’s why the lobbying that spivs — OK, they call themselves government relations experts — do is such a borderline activity. Former NSW premier Nick Greiner defended the practise in an interview with the ABC on Wednesday. “I think the media can over finesse about lobbying,” he said. “Lobbying is advancing the cause, your own cause. It’s an entirely inevitable part of the democratic political process. The only thing is how you do it, how you behave.” Greiner, who both set up the ICAC was also the first NSW premier to lose his job after an ICAC investigation. However the NSW Court of Appeals subsequently found that ICAC had “exceeded its jurisdiction” in ruling against Greiner and former environment minister Tim Moore and granted “declaratory relief that the Commission’s report was wrong in law”. Greiner firmly believes in lobbying, saying: “You’re not going to eliminating lobbying; it would be stupid to suggest that you should try and eliminate lobbying.” He believes there have been a lot of improvements since he was in office nearly 30 years ago. “But I don’t think one should get one’s knickers entirely in a knot. You should have lobbying, it’s a legitimate part of the process ...” But while he mounts a reasonable case there can be no argument that there are as many unprincipled politicians as there are lobbyists. Just a few weeks ago, a very senior political adviser told me of learning that one lobbyist charged clients an extra $5,000 to $10,000 for arranging visits with politicians with what seemed to be an implication that the extra dollars would help grease the access. The most basic rule is that no individual can ever be charged a fee to meet with an elected representative. Lobbyists who claim differently should be barred from practicing and politicians who turn a blind eye to such practices must be turned out. It’s Easter, it’s a good time to start on an ethical renewal program. Rooting out every vestige of corruption must start at the most basic level.