OECD urges lobbying crackdown amid Labor industry overhaul

With billions set to flow under Labor’s Future Made in Australia agenda, integrity advocates also warned that taxpayer funds were ‘ripe for the picking’ by unscrupulous actors.

Labor’s Future Made in Australia fund risks being exploited by ‘unscrupulous actors’, integrity advocates have warned. Picture: Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The OECD has urged the Albanese government to crack down on lobbyists as billions in taxpayer funds have begun to flow in support of green manufacturing under the $22.7bn Future Made in Australia agenda.

Labor is resisting calls to tighten disclosure requirements of federal lobbyists, with integrity experts warning that the billions in subsidies, tax credits, and grants under the industry overhaul were “ripe for the picking”.

Speaking from Paris, the OECD’s new chief economist, ­Alvaro Periera, called on the government to bolster transparency and regulation surrounding lobbyists in Australia, ensuring a level playing field for business.

“Where Australia can improve is the country still lacks some disclosure requirements,” Dr Pereira toldThe Australian.

“The interaction between policymakers with interest groups could be more transparent. Policymakers, public officials, at this stage, are not required to publicly disclose the identity of interest groups they meet.”

The policy advisory body warned that without filling this “regulatory void”, existing businesses with deep pockets could shape government decisions and sweep up funding, at the expense of small businesses and other new entrants.

“More can be done in this area, so that in a time in which a lot of countries are granting a lot more subsidies, we do not disproportionately distort competition, and we do not favour incumbents,” Dr Pereira said.

While lobbyists who work for independent firms are required to disclose their clients on a federal register, their meetings with politicians and their staff do not have to be declared. In-house government relations personnel and industry associations are not subject to the register.

Already, Labor-aligned lobbyists have moved to secure their clients a slice of the industry aid on offer under the Future Made in Australia plan, heightening concerns over the risk to taxpayer funds.

Brookline Advisory’s Lidija Ivanovski and Gerard Richardson, who formerly served as chief of staff to deputy Labor leader Richard Marles and communications director to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, respectively, signed US quantum computing firm PsiQuantum as a client in May last year, according to the register. In April, PsiQuantum secured almost $1bn in state and federal funding.

Similarly, Gina Rinehart-backed Liontown Resources, which received $330m in government-backed support for its Kathleen Valley lithium project, was signed by GRA Partners in March last year. The firm counts ex-West Australian Labor opposition leader Eric Ripper and several former ALP staffers among its employees.

ACT independent senator David Pocock, who has spearheaded efforts to overhaul federal lobbying rules, accused the major parties of “resisting reform” that would bolster transparency around how taxpayer funds were disbursed.

“Future Made in Australia is an important reform and multibillion-dollar investment in our ­future, which is why transparency and accountability in how it is ­designed and implemented are ­absolutely crucial,” Senator Pocock said.

Senator Pocock has called for lobby regulations to cover in-house lobbyists, and sponsored lobbyist pass-holders, who have free access to private areas in Parliament House, to be disclosed.

Centre for Public Integrity ­director Geoffrey Watson SC warned the Future Made in Australia program was so large that taxpayer funding risked being exploited by “unscrupulous actors”.

“Plainly, big companies, big interests who are paying big money to lobbying firms are doing that because they think it pays off, and of course, it tilts the playing field,” Mr Watson said.