The Sydney Morning Herald, 2/4/2008

Special Minister of State John Faulkner has ruled out allowing disgraced Labor powerbroker Brian Burke to register as a lobbyist on the federal government's proposed list.

Senator Faulkner has released a draft code of conduct for lobbyists - industry and special industry group representatives who work behind the scenes to influence government policy.

And while Mr Burke - a convicted fraudster and former West Australian prime minister - could technically qualify for listing, Senator Faulkner said there was no way any application from him would be approved.

"Would Brian Burke be allowed on the register of lobbyists? No. End of story," Senator Faulkner said.

Most Labor MPs are banned from having any contact with Mr Burke, who works as a lobbyist in WA and whose connections with state and federal politicians have ended several promising careers.

Under the draft guidelines released, lobbyists can be included on the register as long as they have never been sentenced to a jail term of 30 months or more and have not been convicted of fraud or dishonesty offences in the past 10 years.

Burke has twice been found guilty of fraud or theft offences and has done two separate stints in jail.

Both were in the mid to late 1990s, falling outside the 10-year limit.

And while his 1997 sentence was for three years - over the 30-month condition - the conviction was quashed on appeal, technically allowing him to apply for registration.

Under the proposed guidelines, Senator Faulkner as cabinet secretary would have absolute discretion over who could be listed, and could also direct the register secretary to remove anyone from the list.

Opposition special minister of state spokesman Michael Ronaldson said that equated to "unfettered" power for the minister.

"There is no mention in this draft code about provisions for recourse or publication of any breach," Senator Ronaldson said.

Under the code, lobbyists will be forced to disclose their clients and the nature of their business on a register, to be available publicly on the department of prime minister and cabinet website.

They will have to update their details every three months and will have to identify themselves as lobbyists when they first approach a minister, parliamentary secretary or staffer.

Ministers and parliamentary secretaries who leave politics will be banned from lobbying in their former portfolio for 18 months.

Ministerial and departmental staff face a 12-month ban on lobbying.

There will be penalties for ministers, staffers and lobbyists who breach the code.

Senator Ronaldson described the proposed code as a reasonable first draft and broadly sensible, but he said it needed considerable redrafting before it could be considered a workable code.

He said the code did not mention unions, or conflicts of interest relating to spouses or close relatives, which could exempt Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's chief of staff David Epstein, whose wife is a senior lobbyist.

And he said staffers could be unfairly punished if they were blocked from using their expertise in a particular area.

"Whilst the provision ... for former ministers appears reasonable, the prohibition ... affecting current Labor ministerial staffers does not appear to take into account situations where they may lose their jobs under reshuffles or the like," Senator Ronaldson said.

But Senator Faulkner said the Liberals had no right to criticise the code.

"Senator Ronaldson has an absolute hide. There were no constraints or controls on lobbyists under the Liberals in the past 11-and-a-half years when they were in government," he said.