Lobbying regulations cover ‘the tip not the iceberg’

Former NSW Liberal leader Peter Collins has told a forum in Sydney that current laws cover “the tip not the iceberg”.

Collins also predicted that continuing scandals would force governments to reform current legislation to include not only external lobbyists but also those employed directly by the firms doing the lobbying.

”What is regulated in Australia is the tip not the iceberg,” said Collins, who is now chairman of influential Coalition lobbying firm Barton Deakin.

“What is regulated at the moment is third party lobbyists engaged by particular clients, for a particular project. What is unregulated and invisible and constitutes the vast majority of ministerial diaries and appointment and is where 95 per cent of lobbying happens – with in-house lobbyists,” he told the CommsCon conference.