What is a lobbyist?

The Bill defines the term “lobbyist” as meaning a person who engages in “lobbying activities” (Clause 4, definition of “lobbyist”; Clause 7(1)).

What is a “lobbying activity”?

A person (which may be a body corporate or an individual (including an employee, a contractor or (if applicable) an individual acting on behalf of their employer (whether for payment or not) including a shareholder, director, officer or subsidiary of a company) engages in a lobbying activity if, for payment, on behalf of any person or company or firm or organisation (the client), the lobbyist undertakes to:

• communicate with any public office holder in respect of:

• the development of any legislative proposal;
• the introduction of any Bill or resolution in the House or the passage, defeat, or amendment of any Bill or resolution that is before the House;
• the making or amendment or disallowance of any regulation as defined by Section 29 of the Interpretation Act 1999;
• the development or amendment or cancellation of any policy or programme of the Government of New Zealand;
• the awarding of any grant, funding, contribution, or other financial benefit by or on behalf of the Government of New Zealand;
• the awarding of any contract by or on behalf of the Government of New Zealand; or

• arrange a meeting between a public office holder and any other person (Clause 4, definition of “lobbyist”; Clause 7(1)-(4) (what constitutes “lobbying activity”).

What is not a “lobbying activity”?

A lobbying activity does not include:

• any oral or written submission made to the House of Representatives or any of its committees in proceedings that are a matter of public record;
• any communication which is restricted to a request for information (Clause 7(5)).

Persons who do not engage in lobbying activities

The following persons do not engage in lobbying activities “when acting in their official capacity:”

• Members of Parliament;
• “any person employed by, or who works under a contract for services for, or who is working on secondment to, any of the departments of the public service listed in Schedule 1 to the State Sector Act 1988”;
• “members of a local authority or any person employed by, or who works under a contract for services for, or who is working on secondment to, any such authority”;
• “diplomatic agents, consular officers, or official representatives of a foreign government” (Clause 7(6)).

Registration

The Bill provides that no person may engage in lobbying activity unless they are registered with the Auditor-General as a lobbyist (Clause 6).

Returns of lobbying activity

The Bill provides that “an individual or company or firm or organisation engaged in lobbying activity must file a return with the Auditor-General” containing the following information and pursuant to regulations as to “form and manner”:

• the name and business address of the individual and company, firm or organisation who undertook the lobbying activity and the name of any individual who acted for the company or firm or organisation;
• “the name and business address of the client and any person or body that controls or directs the activities of the client and has a direct interest in the outcome of the activities undertaken on behalf of the client”;
• “where the client is a company, the name and business address of each subsidiary of the company that has a direct interest in the outcome of the activities undertaken on behalf of the client”;
• “where the client is a company that is a subsidiary of another company, the name and business address of that other company”;
• “where the client is a coalition, the name and address of each person or body that is a member of that coalition”;
• “particulars to identify the subject-matter in respect of which the lobbying activity was undertaken, including any relevant legislative proposal, Bill, resolution, regulation, policy, programme, grant, funding, contribution, financial benefit, or contract”;
• “particulars to identify the communication technique used to communicate with a public office holder”;
• “the name of any public office holder at whom the lobbying activity was directed” (Clause 7(7)(9)).

Register of Lobbyists

The Bill provides that the Auditor-General must establish a Register of Lobbyists containing a record of the individuals registered as lobbyists, returns, and other documents, which must be publicly available. The Bill provides that the Auditor-General may suspend or remove individuals from the Register of Lobbyists where returns are not filed or additional information is not provided as required. Suspensions and removals will need to be notified to members of Parliament and chief executives of government departments (Clauses 10 and 11).

Lobbyists' Code of Conduct

The Bill provides that the Auditor-General must develop a Lobbyists' Code of Conduct and any individual who, or company or firm or organisation which, is required to file a return of lobbying activity must comply with the Code. The Auditor-General may investigate alleged breaches of the Code and may suspend or remove individuals from the Register of Lobbyists where a breach of the Code is found to have occurred. The Auditor-General may prepare a report of any investigation and submit it to the Speaker of the House. The Speaker must present the report to the House forthwith after receiving it. The report can contain personal details of any individual if these are relevant to the investigation and the Auditor-General considers that publication of such details is in the public interest (Clauses 13-17).

Offences

The Bill makes it an offence to engage in lobbying activity without being registered as a lobbyist and also intends to provide for contraventions against Section 39(1) of the Public Audit Act 2001 (such as obstructing the Auditor-General, failing to comply with “lawful requirements” of the Auditor-General, making false statements to the Auditor-General, or misrepresenting that they have authority under this Bill) with maximum penalties of $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for a body corporate (Clause 19).

Regulations

The Bill provides that regulations may be made:

• “prescribing the manner and form of returns of lobbying activity, including requiring any person or persons who occupy any particular role or roles within a company or firm or organisation to file a return on behalf of the company or firm or organisation”;

• “prescribing the manner and form in which information provided in returns of lobbying activity or in a response to a request for additional information is to be confirmed or corrected or completed by present or former public office holders”;

• “prescribing fees for the purpose of recovering the administrative costs of the Auditor-General in performing his or her functions under this Act”;

• “providing for matters contemplated by this Act or necessary to give it full effect or necessary for its administration” (Clause 20).

Review every five years

The Bill provides for a review of the resulting Act by Parliament every 5 years after the Act comes into force (Clause 22).

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