The Age, Annabel Stafford, May 14 2008

LAWYERS acting for third-party companies will be forced to register themselves as lobbyists before visiting Federal Government ministers, their staff and public servants as part of last-minute changes to a lobbyist code of conduct announced yesterday.

Under the code, lobbyists cannot lie, exaggerate how close they are to the government or mix personal activities with lobbying. If they do, they face being struck from the register.

Ex-government ministers, senior staff and public servants will have to wait between 12 and 18 months before they engage in any lobbying in areas related to their previous work in government.

The code will apply only to lobbyists representing third parties, and not in-house government relations executives, because the Government believes it is obvious who those executives represent.

A spokesman for cabinet secretary John Faulkner, who announced the code on a busy budget day, denied the Government was trying to bury the news. He said Senator Faulkner kept his promise to release the code on the next available parliamentary day.

The code contains some changes made in response to submissions on a draft version released last month.

It responds to earlier criticism that the cabinet secretary had too much power in deciding who was on or off the register — he or she now has to give reasons for such decisions.

Lobbyists working on market-sensitive transactions will not have to publicly disclose who they are working for — though they have to tell relevant ministers — until after the transaction.

Despite the changes, the Opposition and Greens were not impressed. Shadow special minister of state Michael Ronaldson said the code would not stop dodgy lobbyists and did not deal with union lobbying.

Greens leader Bob Brown said the code was not enforceable and although it required ministers, their staff and public servants to refuse access to lobbyists not on the register, it did not require other government or opposition MPs to do the same.

Senator Brown criticised the Government for not requiring lobbyists to publicly disclose who they had met and on what subject, making it difficult to follow their trail of influence.