The Age (Australia)

Opinion 

16 November 2006

'Those who do not use local guides cannot take advantage of the ground," wrote Sun Tzu in The Art of War, circa 512 BC. This timeless piece of military strategy could well apply to political lobbying - another profession that has been around since the foundation of democracy and which requires just as much tactical cunning and inside knowledge. In quite a few cases, the "local guide" can certainly be someone familiar with the territory of parliament and perhaps the smaller but even more nebulous area of the ministerial mind. It helps immeasurably if you happen to be a former minister.

Brian Burke, a former premier of Western Australia, and David White, a former minister in the Cain-Kirner Labor governments, have made quite different post-political careers as lobbyists. Mr Burke's tactics have caused the WA Government to establish a register for lobbyists (Mr Burke and his business partner, Julian Grill, are not to be allowed on it). And it has been rumoured that Mr White, a consultant to Tattersall's and once politically responsible for this state's gaming, has been involved in an attempt to discredit a rival company bidding for Victoria's lotteries licence. Tattersall's chief executive, Dick McIlwain, has accused Mr White of "dragging us down into the gutter". The Age also reports today that a Labor government, if returned, would introduce a lobbyist register as part of a wider policy, Improving Democracy.

The need for transparency in this, one of the murkier reaches of politically associated life, has long been overdue. It could not have come at a better time. We do not wish to discredit all political lobbyists - even the ones who become so with the speed of a poacher-turned-gamekeeper - but they should be subjected to the same scrutiny and public accountability as the politicians they seek to persuade.