Australian MPs give lobbyists permanent access to parliament, data shows
A first public register of parliamentary pass sponsors shows Labor and Coalition members backing resource firms and online gambling interests.
What to know
- New rules require MPs to disclose whom they sponsor for parliament access passes.
- The first release of the register came on Tuesday and carried sparse detail.
- More than 1,000 applications are still waiting to be processed.
- Resource companies and a lobby group for online gambling firms feature among sponsors.
Members of Australia's Labor and Coalition parties are sponsoring some of the country's largest resources companies and a lobby group representing online gambling operators for permanent access to Parliament House, according to data released under new transparency rules.
The rules require MPs who sponsor lobbyists and other private interests for access passes to the building's private offices to be listed on a public register. reports said that Tuesday's first release offered very limited information, and that a backlog of more than 1,000 applications had yet to be processed.
The disclosure covers pass holders rather than meetings, and the initial entries do not show what access was used for. It was not clear from the first release which individual MPs had sponsored which applicants.
Reporting credit
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