Shadow health minister sponsoring access for gambling group boss

Ministers are sponsoring passes to lobbyists seeking to influence them directly, with Labor and Liberal MPs also providing access to gambling lobbyists, according to the first disclosures of who has direct access to politicians at Parliament House.For the first time the public has been able to see which federal politicians are providing access for lobbyists to parliament, following a decision by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to tighten access and disclosure rules earlier this year.Among the first tranche of disclosures are two passes for gambling lobby group Responsible Wagering Australia, which represents bet365, Sportsbet, Betfair and others, and has been co-sponsored by Labor and Liberal MPs.Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston is the primary sponsor for Responsible Wagering Australia's chief executive Kai Cantwell, while Labor senator Raff Ciccone sponsors its other pass, with Senator Ruston also a secondary sponsor.Kai Cantwell was previously chief of staff to Anne Ruston before becoming head of the peak gambling body. (ABC News: Dave Sciasci)Mr Cantwell was the former chief of staff to Senator Ruston while she was minister for families and services.Senator Ruston declined to comment.Several cabinet ministers have also been revealed to be pass sponsors, granting access to lobbyists seeking to directly lobby them on portfolio issues.Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Industry Minister Tim Ayres are sponsors of Benjamin Oquist, former executive director of progressive advocacy group The Australia Institute, who now leads climate advocacy at lobbying firm DPG Advisory Solutions.Ben Oquist, whose partner is Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, is granted access to parliament house by Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen and Industry Minister Tim Ayres. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)Finance Minister and Minister for Women Katy Gallagher is the sponsor for the National Foundation for Australian Women, a feminist group advocating for gender equality.Greens leader David Shoebridge is the only political party leader in the first tranche of disclosures to provide a pass, which he gave to the Australian Peace and Security Forum, a group seeking to dismantle the AUKUS agreement.Gas lobbyists employed by wide range of Labor and Coalition MPsPass sponsorship is not necessarily an endorsement of that lobbyist's views.For example, One Nation senators Malcolm Roberts and Sean Bell, Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson and Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson are the sponsors for Digital Defence, a group that supports the government's Digital Duty of Care laws to make social media giants responsible for online harms, despite those MPs all being opposed to the reforms.Several gas lobbyists are sponsored by Labor MPs, even as the sector lobbies against the government's proposal to require gas producers to reserve supply for Australian consumers first.Canberran MP David Smith is a sponsor for gas lobby group Australian Energy Producers, while Victorians Jana Stewart and Sarah Witty are sponsors for Hawker Britton Group, which counts Woodside and ConocoPhillips among its clients.Labor MPs Rob Mitchell, Mr Smith, Joanne Ryan and Tony Sheldon also sponsor passes for Hawker Britton Group, while Dan Repaholi and Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan are sponsors for Alinta Energy, and South Australians Steve Georganas and Tom Venning are sponsors for Adelaide-based gas producer Beach Energy.American oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips also directly engages at least one lobbyist, whose pass is sponsored by National MP Colin Boyce and Labor MP Mike Freelander.The first Sponsored Access Card report provides only a peek behind the curtain of who has access to the nation's decision-makers, with just over 100 passes detailed, and the Department of Parliamentary Services admitting it still has a backlog of 1,086 cards issued under the previous system that require new assessment and processing under the updated rules.Mr Albanese announced changes to access for lobbyists in June following a review, setting out new disclosure requirements, and changes to what areas of parliaments lobbyists could access.Call for National Lobbying ActThe Australian Democracy Network says the new rules still leave out as many as 80 per cent of lobbyists, who are not required to join the lobbyist register because they are employed "in-house" in government relations roles by companies, rather than operating as a formal lobbyist with corporate clients.Its senior campaigner Christian Slattery said there were gaps around who lobbyists were engaging with."Australians still can't see the full picture," Mr Slattery said."The new transparency system doesn't give meaningful information to the public about who our elected representatives are meeting with, when they're meeting them, or why."Australia needs a National Lobbying Act that applies the same rules to all people engaging in professional lobbying, requires proactive ministerial diary disclosure, and establishes an independent regulator."Independent senator David Pocock said those lobbyists should be brought into the fold, and the "revolving door" of exiting MPs and staffers joining industries they previously regulated should be ended."More transparency over lobbying passes is a hard-won win for the community, the result of sustained pressure from right across the country. It also shines a light on the cosy relationship between industries like gambling and gas with the government," Senator Pocock said."The government needs to finish the job of reforming our broken lobbying laws. That means strengthening the lobbying code, extending it to every lobbyist, closing the revolving door between government and the industries it regulates, and bringing in penalties that bite."