The state government’s register of lobbyists, which took effect this week, has highlighted the prominence of a small group of firms run by former Labor politicians and ex-ministerial staffers.
The state government’s register of lobbyists, which took effect this week, has highlighted the prominence of a small group of firms run by former Labor politicians and ex-ministerial staffers.
Judging by the number of clients listed by each of the registered lobbyists, the top firms in Perth are Halden Burns, Hawker Britton WA, CPR and Enhance Corporate/Clough Consulting.
The register was established in response to the lobbying scandal surrounding former Labor premier Brian Burke, former minister Julian Grill and former Liberal senator Noel Crichton-Browne, who have been banned from the register.
The establishment of the register and the definitions employed by the government have been controversial, and the varied approaches adopted by different firms will do nothing to ease that controversy.
Lobbyists representing third parties must be registered before they can talk to government ministers or public servants.
More than 40 firms were registered at the close of business on Tuesday, including several public relations firms such as Professional Public Relations, Linc, NCS, Purple and Atticus.
PPR has 25 staff on the register but because lobbying is an incidental part of its business it has only six clients.
Several other PR firms, including Riley Matthewson, were waiting for their applications to be processed.
One exception was public relations firm Porter Novelli. Director Paul Downie told WA Business News he had already fielded several calls from people asking why his firm wasn’t registered.
Mr Downie said he had never professed to be a lobbyist, but would probably register to cover occasional contact he and his staff had with government agencies.
His main concern was the exclusion of other professions from the register.
“I do have an issue with lawyers and accountants being excluded from the list,” Mr Downie said.
“Lawyers have a large hand in formulating policy in this town, usually at the behest of a client.”
He also questioned the government’s decision to exclude professionals such as town planners and engineers.
The list includes a large number of sole traders, many of whom have not listed any clients.
Halden Burns, run by former Labor politician John Halden and former journalists Anne Burns and Karen Brown, lists 31 clients.
That put it ahead of Hawker Britton, which has close links to Labor nationally and is run in WA by former Labor politician Megan Anwyl.
CPR, run by former Labor staffers Roger Cook, Peter Quinn and Simon Dowding, has 18 clients.
Another one-time Labor staffer Peter Clough made two entries - one for his own firm, Clough Consulting, which has eight clients and counts former BHP Billiton executive Stedman Ellis as a sub-contractor, and a second for national firm Enhance Corporate, which he represents in WA.
Mr Clough said both firms employed people from across the political spectrum.
Former Liberal party state director Paul Everingham provides some political counterweight. His firm represents eight clients, including the Gorgon LNG project.
The list does not include former Liberal Party WA leaders Bill Hassell and Barry Mackinnon, who have both worked as lobbyists.
Mr Mackinnon, who described himself as a pioneer of the lobbying industry in WA in the mid 1990s, said he was pursuing other commercial interests and did not plan to register.
Mr Hassell said lobbying was a small part of his business and he was not currently involved in any matters in the state sphere, therefore he had no plans to register.
Yilgarn Infrastructure, which is seeking to develop port and rail infrastructure in the Mid West, was the most prolific employer. CPR, Enhance and PPR listed Yilgarn as a client.
