Australia’s political lobbying rules are broken. Nearly two-thirds of registered lobbyists in Canberra are former government representatives - former ministers, advisers or party officials. These are people who’ve spent years building relationships and gathering knowledge on the public purse, and are now able to sell access to the highest bidder. Next month, I’ll introduce my National Lobbying Act as part of an effort to put a stop to this and to clean up politics. It would create a lobbyist register capturing both in-house corporate lobbyists and industry associations, while also closing the revolving door through enforceable bans on former ministers cashing in on their contacts. Australians don’t send politicians to Canberra to protect big coal, big gambling, or the big banks. They send us there to stand up for our communities and act in their best interests. It’s time to clean up politics.

There's increasing evidence that the Exclusive Brethren not only had a significant physical presence in seats like Kooyong in the 2025 federal election. They also employed right-wing activists, including neo-Nazis and former Proud Boys, to disrupt election activities and campaigning, We have to get to the bottom of this - including the links between the Brethren, neo-Nazis, and the Coalition. Australians deserve to have confidence in the integrity of election campaigns and to feel safe participating in them. As member of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, I'll be supporting its Chair, Jerome Laxale, in asking the Exclusive Brethren's world leader Bruce Hales - and his son Gareth - to appear before the committee's inquiry into the 2025 Federal Election. theage.com.au/politics/feder…