Crossbench members and senators, together with the Centre for Public Integrity, are calling on parliament’s Presiding Officers to increase transparency around granting privileged access to parliament house.
Sixteen members of the crossbench have signed a letter to Speaker Milton Dick MP and Senate President Senator Sue Lines calling for the pass office to publish details of sponsored passes on parliamentarians' biographical pages on the APH website.
Parliamentarians are allowed to sponsor an unlimited number of passes for whoever they like and the only scrutiny is a basic security check. These passes give the holder 24-hour unfettered access to all areas of Parliament House for a period of three years.
This means lobbyists and other third parties can walk unannounced into the offices of everyone from Ministers to backbenchers to crossbenchers at any time, vastly increasing their ability to exert influence.
Answers to questions put on notice by ACT Independent Senator David Pocock show that 2,144 people held a sponsored pass in the 45th Parliament.
As at 15 February this year there were 1,791 people holding a current Sponsored APH access card with 891 of those Sponsored passes being issued so far in the current parliament.
A single (unidentified) parliamentarian has already sponsored passes for 55 people.
Senator Pocock said that while parliamentarians should remain accessible, especially to voters, this level of unfettered access by lobbyists with no transparent oversight was unhealthy for democracy.
“There is a strong case for better transparency around who is granted access - and with that access, greater influence - to Parliament House,” Senator Pocock said.
“People want more transparency and accountability from politicians. While sponsored passes serve a legitimate purpose, Australians deserve to know who their representatives are granting unfettered access to Parliament House. Disclosing sponsored passes is a small but meaningful way we can build trust and strengthen our democracy.”
“Lobbying has become a large unregulated industry. The revolving door sees MPs and Ministers using their connections to further private interests. Transparency of passes would help voters know who is in the room,” said the Hon Anthony Whealy KC, Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity.
A copy of the letter is available here.