21st century democracy needs defending

The new phenomenon of corporate campaigning is one area that should be of great concern to anyone who believes in our democracy. Concerted corporate campaigns are big issues impacting on both Labor and fabric of our democracy. Over recent years banks, tobacco companies and some in the mining industry have hired advertising companies and pollsters to mount multimillion dollar political campaigns targeting both government and opposition.

It would seem that this rise of direct corporate campaigning coincides neatly with state and federalattempts to make lobbyists more accountable and their activities more transparent.

Traditional lobbying companies are required to register their clients. This is an important step but one which fails to take the necessarynext step. Businesses with an interest in influencing government policy and legislation are increasingly developing in-house government relations teams that draw on former ministers and senior staffers to undertake lobbying for them. Such work when undertaken directly by a business does not come under government guidelines for lobbyists.

Undue corporate influence is growing and there are not enough voices calling for the necessary limits to be set.

Labor's failure to advocatereasonable checks and balances on corporate influence over government decision making may have built some short term alliances butthe failure to set ethical standards is adding to Labor's crisis of identity.

Australia's strong and proud democracy needs further workand requires us to be ever vigilant so that all voices are heard in our important national debates. Politicians need to hear the voice of the people, something increasingly difficult with the dominance of conservativebig media commentators and the shrill calls of the self-interested hogging every bandwidthand Ministerial diaries.