ACT independent Senator David Pocock raised concerns about parliament’s sporting club accepting gambling money as sponsorship and was subsequently kicked out of the club. Photo: Region
How much time does Anthony Albanese spend on the field with the parliamentary sports club? Zero.
How much does that minimise the bad look that, as Prime Minister, he’s been the president of a lobby organisation whose clients include the gambling sector? Also zero.
And how many people really believe that corporate sponsors hand over good money without expecting anything in return? You guessed it – zero.
One more question: When a Senator raises questions about how all that looks, who thought it was a good idea to kick him out of the club?
That’d be the club’s chief executive, Andy Turnbull, who made one of the dumbest, most cynical, petty and politically naive moves last week in booting ACT independent Senator David Peacock from the Australian Parliament Sports Club – that powerful institution of moral indignation.
He came up with a really clever line: “You can’t lob bombs at an apolitical organisation and not expect consequences.”
Let’s forget that Pocock was captain of the Wallabies (because Turnbull obviously did) and would be a welcome and valued member of any sporting organisation.
The real issue is that a so-called friendly social sporting club whose very name links it to the Australian Parliament is taking money from sponsors who know they are buying access to politicians.
That’s why it registered as a lobby organisation, to “be on the safe side” even though it’s “not really” a lobby group.
When the gambling lobby, which is notorious for finding dubious ways of influencing policy and paying for access, is a client of a lobby organisation, then there is no good look about this at all.
The fact that the PM, by default, is the president of the club makes the situation – and the bad look – worse, and can’t be so easily dismissed with a throwaway line like “it comes with the gig”.
That was the Prime Minister’s initial response when asked on Friday if he thought it was appropriate for him to be president of a lobby organisation.
Albo is never reluctant to remind people that “I’m the Prime Minister”, so he could easily use that power to change the “rules” and remove himself from the honorary gig.
He also gave Pocock a jab, suggesting the Senator was looking to get himself into a media story (as if he and the Labor Party would never do that).
By the end of the day, however, the PM had thought a little better of it and issued a statement to say that while the idea that politicians voluntarily playing sport has any impact equivalent to lobbying “is absurd”, participation in the club should be open to everyone.
That resulted in Turnbull offering to re-invite Pocock into the fold.
By Monday, the club had also made moves to deregister as a lobby group on the Attorney-General’s Register of Lobbyists.
Deregistering as a lobby group isn’t the answer if the sporting club is still taking money from corporate sponsors buying time with parliamentarians.
It only serves to camouflage what the club is offering its sponsors. And you’ve got to ask: what has changed that they are no longer ‘lobbyists’?
That much-heard sporting field cry “pass it to me” took on a whole new meaning when it was revealed that the parliamentary sports club was actually a lobby firm.
Corporate sponsors getting muddy with federal MPs in the early hours before a parliamentary day starts might appear to be calling for the ball, but maybe they’re also (not so) subtly asking for a contract, a vote, or even a good public word to go their way.
As absurd as some might say that is, it is absolutely not an unlikely scenario.
Bonding over a football game could make it just that little bit harder for some MPs to act against the interests of a “teammate”.
Sponsors rarely fork out good money without expecting something in return.
So, when does a social sporting group become a lobbying firm?
When it starts taking money from corporate sponsors who know it gets them closer to politicians.
When does that cloud the club’s motives and very reason for existing?
When the club chooses those sponsors, ie gambling money, over a team member Senator who was bold enough to dare to question the perception of it all.
That’s when.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
