Lobbyists Outnumber MPs in Canberra, and Critics Say They Shape Power Behind Closed Doors
CANBERRA — The halls of Australia’s federal Parliament House are full of people who are not elected, and critics say some of them carry real
CANBERRA — The halls of Australia’s federal Parliament House are full of people who are not elected, and critics say some of them carry real influence. One such figure has drawn fresh attention after a senator’s office reported him using staff break rooms for video meetings.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock says the man is the head of Responsible Wagering Australia, an industry group with a strong presence around the building. Pocock says staff have repeatedly found him in spaces set aside for Senate staff to rest, eat lunch or use a microwave.
“He’s forever setting up shop in the break rooms,” Pocock said. “He camps out in Parliament House … [and] has a lot of access.”
A room meant for staff, not visitors
The latest episode began when a senior officer in Parliament House received an urgent message: an interloper was in one of the break rooms. These rooms include a kitchenette, dining table and couches, and are supposed to give staff a quiet place away from the chamber floor.
Senator Pocock said staff from his office emailed the Senate’s senior administrative officer, known as the Usher of the Black Rod, to report the intrusion. By the time someone from the Black Rod’s office arrived, the man had already left.
His identity, Pocock said, was no mystery inside the office. The senator identified him as the head of Responsible Wagering Australia, the gambling industry body.
Why the access matters
Pocock’s complaint goes beyond one person on a couch with a laptop. It speaks to a larger concern in Canberra: the scale of access that lobbyists and former insiders can have inside the federal parliament, even when they hold no elected office.
That concern is sharpened by the man’s background. According to Pocock, he once worked inside Parliament House as a senior ministerial adviser during the Morrison government. That kind of experience can make a building feel familiar. It can also make the line between public institution and private access harder to police.
Inside Canberra, that line matters. Parliament House is where laws are made, policies are shaped and industries press their case. The people who can move easily through its rooms often get more than a passing glance. And in this case, the senator says the same man keeps coming back.
