Four months ago, Barry O’Farrell received some unsolicited advice from the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

It was wrapped inside advice the NSW Premier had actually asked for – about what to do with three mining licences the commission had recently found were corruptly issued by former Labor resources minister Ian Macdonald for the benefit of, among others, the Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

ICAC recommended they be torn up and O’Farrell acted swiftly and legislated for their cancellation. Despite threats of legal action by the two companies that now own them, Cascade Coal and NuCoal Resources, O'Farrell even moved to ensure no compensation would be payable.

It was pretty determined stuff. O’Farrell clearly felt the public had been so angered by the actions of Obeid and Macdonald it would expect nothing less.

But what of the unsolicited advice delivered by ICAC?

Well, that was about a differently subject altogether, but one with which O’Farrell is no less familiar: the vexed issue of political lobbying.

Then ICAC commissioner David Ipp suggested O’Farrell take another look at recommendations it made about lobbying in a 2010 report.

They included changing the rules to force more transparency around the activities of lobbyists, including mandatory contemporaneous public records of their meetings.

Importantly, ICAC also urged that the definition of a lobbyist be broadened to include not only those working for specialist lobbying companies hired by other firms to advocate on their behalf – so-called third party lobbyists – but any organisation that seeks a meeting with government to push its agenda.

For the first time, this would mean the companies, associations and even religious groups that deployed in-house lobbyists in the form of lawyers, chief executives and others would need to be registered before gaining access to a ministerial ear.

When ICAC delivered its gentle reminder in November, the government said it would reconsider ICAC’s advice. Four months, including one full parliamentary session later, precisely nothing has happened.

Why is O’Farrell refusing to act? A clue might be found in just how many in-house lobbyists are close to the government and the Liberal Party in NSW.

Among those who would be potentially affected by a change to the definition of lobbyist is the NSW Liberal Party president Chris Downy. His day job is chief executive of the Australian Wagering Council, which represents online bookmaking firms including Betfair, Sportingbet and Sportsbet.

The honorary chairman of the Liberal Party’s main fund-raising body, the Millennium Forum, Paul Nicolaou, is also NSW chief executive of the Australian Hotels Association.

Then there is O’Farrell’s former chief of staff Peter McConnell, who stepped straight out of the office into a highly paid role as director of corporate affairs for Woolworths.

Additionally, there are in-house lobbyists on the NSW Liberal state executive, the powerful body which has a major say in the preselections of MPs.

If O’Farrell followed ICAC’s advice then the firms representing all of these lobbyists would not only be forced to register but also have whom they have met, and when, open to public scrutiny. It’s hardly a radical idea. Indeed, the broadening of the definition of lobbyist is strongly supported by many third-party lobbyists, including prominent Liberal state executive member Michael Photios, who feel the current playing field is unfair.

Nor is rewriting the lobbyist code of conduct to ensure a timely public record of who is meeting government ministers.

There is already a good model in existence within the Planning Department. A lobbyist contact register records the date and subject of all meetings and telephone calls between departmental staff and registered lobbyists.

Whenever the issue of lobbyists is raised, O’Farrell is quick to point out his government adopted two of ICAC’s 2010 recommendations: an 18-month ‘‘cooling-off period’’ for former ministers before they can lobby the government in their last portfolio area and a ban on success fees for lobbyists.

Clearly ICAC, which issued its reminder after both these changes were made, feels these reforms do not go far enough.

O’Farrell is fond of expressing his support for ICAC, especially in the light of its corruption findings against members of the former government. He needs to act on the remainder of its recommendations to prove it.

smh.com.au