Lobbying in NSW

ACTU organising Centre

Introduction

Thankyou for the invitation to speak to you about lobbying and I would like to congratulate the ACTU for organising this event.

I have been a Greens MP for four years and there has been a number of occasions in that time when those of us who work in the Greens parliamentary office have wished that union representatives would lobby the cross benchers in the NSW Upper House.

So I will deal with why I think it is worth putting some resources into lobbying state MPs, but I would first off like to put lobbying in the context of overall campaigning from a Greens perspective.

I am often asked to do talks on lobbying and quite often I find myself trying to hose down groups from the social justice and environment sector from putting all their emphasis into lobbying decision makers. That is just having those so-called high-level talks with MPs and bureaucrats.

Lobbying is worth it but it is only one way to achieve change. We always need to be mobilising our support base using a variety of tactics from deputations, letter writing, protest actions, in your case on the job actions, email campaigns, etc. All those tools of trade are essential if your interaction with MPs is going to work.

What lobbyists from progressive organisations need to remember is that they are only as strong as the voices of those behind them and more often than not they only get in the door because there are people on the streets, on the picket line, and pumping out those protest letters and emails.

So onto lobbying. I'll deal with this in two parts - · how can unions interact with parliament, and · how can the Greens assist you in that process.

The traditional form of lobbying has been to see the relevant Minister and some MPs - maybe those who are sympathetic, or those that live in a certain area or who are on a particular committee. That is certainly worth it and I will come to a recent example that had a powerful impact in the NSW Parliament. In the past this type of lobbying had concentrated on the major parties.

These days any lobbying exercise needs to take into consideration the crossbench members, and I am not just talking about Greens MPs here. The two party system is breaking down in Australia. More and more Australians are not voting for a major party. In the 1950s 98% voted for Labor or the Coalition. These days in Upper House elections the minor party vote can be as high as 30%. That means it will become more likely that crossbench MPs are in balance of power so it is therefore essential that union reps develop a relationship with these MPs and with their parties.

So you have an issue with legislation before the parliament or you want to use the parliamentary process to help build your campaign to do with wages or conditions, what can you do?

What you need to do before you come to parliament · prepare a one page brief. You can have the back up documents if you want to, but the quickest way to get MPs and their staffers tuned into your needs is to present a few dot points that cover: o what is wrong, o what has to change o what you want the MP to do On the last point you may not have any specific ideas other than calling on the MP to support your case. That is OK as the MP knows what they can do.

In recent years lobbying has become synonymous with experts and the leading representatives of any organisation. That form of lobbying certainly has its place, but never forget to involve your rank and file members in your lobbying of MPs. Taking along a number of workers from the job when you meet the Minister can help strengthen your message.

Lobbying can be very powerful when you target MPs en masse. This can be done through electorate offices or at parliament house. The advantage of doing it at parliament house is that all your members are there together meeting their local MPs, wandering through the corridors, and congregating in the forecourt. This strength in numbers can become a media event in itself, and the strength in numbers sends a powerful message to all MPs.

o Last month the NSW Teachers Federation organised a lobbying day on class sizes. A couple of hundred teachers spent a budy few hours lobbying their local MPs last month in a show of force that has already helped to move forward the debate on class sizes.

As well as interacting with the parliamentary process (see below) there are various other ways MPs can assist you to use parliament.

· Rooms for functions. Finding meeting rooms in Sydney is becoming increasingly difficult. Parliament offers a range of rooms, from small meeting rooms to the Theatrette for public functions. All you need is an MP to host the event. Of an evening facilities are available only when parliament is sitting. o In the four years that I have been in parliament I have seen the Theatrette used only twice on industrial issues. One was a meeting organised by the NSW Labor Council on workers' compensation and the other was about the Social and Community Services Award.

· Media facilities. All the major media outlets, and many smaller ones, have people working in parliament. You can interact with them in a number of ways: o Box your media releases. There are 40 boxes. A number of organisations email or fax their release to an MPs' office they have developed a relationship with and one of the staff run off 40 copies and box them. o Press conferences. MPs can host press conferences and the MP does not need to be on the platform so any group can run a media conference independent of any political party.

· Relationships with MPs office. Cultivate a friendly MP and get to know their staff. What you should be looking for is someone who will be your eyes and ears in parliament so they alert your office to any issues they believe would be of interest and concern to your organisation. And that office in turn can assist in facilitating media work, lobbying and the holding of events at parliament.

· Free distribution of your material to all MPs. Any MP can arrange for your materials to be sent to the 93 members of the Legislative Assembly and the 42 members of the Legislative Council. Periodically it is worth sending out materials on your key campaigns, as well as sending your journal to some MPs.

· Speak at a crossbench briefing. On each Tuesday morning that parliament is sitting you can request to brief crossbench members and their staff on legislation before the parliament or any campaign you may be working on. Each briefing is for half an hour.

· Amendments to bills. Say you have been lobbying the government, they have agreed to bring in a piece of legislation you want but they have not met all your demands. Come and talk to the Greens about moving what has been left out as amendments. That is how we work with a range of organisations and there have even been one or two occasions where a minister's office has leaked us issues that they could not get through the cabinet but they wanted to get a public airing. In many cases we move amendments that have no hope of being passed as a political statement.

· Questions. Questions asked in the House during question time can be used to gain information but are best used strategically to put pressure on the government or embarrass them over some incident. At the moment each cross bench member averages about two questions per a three-day sitting. Questions can also be asked with notice and there are no limits on the number that can be submitted. The Minister has 35 days to answer but the answers only come back when parliament is sitting. Questions on notice are very useful in gaining information but they also serve to add political pressure in a campaign. o We asked a series of questions about a possible closure of a section of a TAFE college that helped flush out and stop a secretive closure plan.

· Adjournment speech. The last half hour of each sitting day is the adjournment debate. At this time MPs can speak on any subject. A number of MPs use it to speak about current campaigns, events they have attended, anything they want to air possibly using the privilege that being an MP provides. o Ian West, Peter Primrose and myself often use our adjournment speech slots to raise workers' rights issues

· Private members bills. Any MP can ask parliamentary counsel to draft a private members bill. There could be occasions when a union might consider working with a cross bencher to develop a private members' bill on an issue they are campaigning on. A number of private members' bills have passed through the Legislative Council. But only the conservative ones, usually on law and order issues, have then been given support in the Legislative Assembly and become law. However, even where a bill does not pass it can be another useful tool in one's campaign as it demonstrates to the government of the day how your issue can be achieved.

In 2001 the Legislative Council debated the Greens Education (Reduction of Financial Assistance to Wealthy Non-government Schools) Amendment Bill. This Bill was very much part of the growing campaign in support of public education in NSW. We also have a bill on TAFE that has not yet come before the House for debate.

· Motions. MPs can move motions on any subject. This is a useful way to get an issue on the record, and again it sends a message to the government of your union's concerns. Only a small number of motions are debated. When an issue is urgent or has some immediacy it is often possible to win support in the House to bring on debate by contingency.

In 1999 the Greens motion in support of teachers' striking over their pay claim was passed by the Legislative Council. This motion was read out at the 10,000 strong rally of striking teachers outside Parliament on the day after the motion was passed.

· Release of papers. In many campaigns information flow from a Minister's office or a government department can dry up. Following an interesting court case the government regularly agrees to the release of internal reports, briefing documents, correspondence, electronic communications, etc. This often results in boxes of information being delivered to the Clerk's office in the Legislative Council. In some circumstances this tactic can be useful.

· Regulations. MPs do not play any role in formulating Regulations, however, we do have the power to move for their disallowance within 30 days of being gazetted. Once a motion for disallowance is lodged debate on that matter comes on automatically at the next day of sitting.

ACTU organising Centre

Introduction

Thankyou for the invitation to speak to you about lobbying and I would like to congratulate the ACTU for organising this event.

I have been a Greens MP for four years and there has been a number of occasions in that time when those of us who work in the Greens parliamentary office have wished that union representatives would lobby the cross benchers in the NSW Upper House.

So I will deal with why I think it is worth putting some resources into lobbying state MPs, but I would first off like to put lobbying in the context of overall campaigning from a Greens perspective.

I am often asked to do talks on lobbying and quite often I find myself trying to hose down groups from the social justice and environment sector from putting all their emphasis into lobbying decision makers. That is just having those so-called high-level talks with MPs and bureaucrats.

Lobbying is worth it but it is only one way to achieve change. We always need to be mobilising our support base using a variety of tactics from deputations, letter writing, protest actions, in your case on the job actions, email campaigns, etc. All those tools of trade are essential if your interaction with MPs is going to work.

What lobbyists from progressive organisations need to remember is that they are only as strong as the voices of those behind them and more often than not they only get in the door because there are people on the streets, on the picket line, and pumping out those protest letters and emails.

So onto lobbying. I'll deal with this in two parts - · how can unions interact with parliament, and · how can the Greens assist you in that process.

The traditional form of lobbying has been to see the relevant Minister and some MPs - maybe those who are sympathetic, or those that live in a certain area or who are on a particular committee. That is certainly worth it and I will come to a recent example that had a powerful impact in the NSW Parliament. In the past this type of lobbying had concentrated on the major parties.

These days any lobbying exercise needs to take into consideration the crossbench members, and I am not just talking about Greens MPs here. The two party system is breaking down in Australia. More and more Australians are not voting for a major party. In the 1950s 98% voted for Labor or the Coalition. These days in Upper House elections the minor party vote can be as high as 30%. That means it will become more likely that crossbench MPs are in balance of power so it is therefore essential that union reps develop a relationship with these MPs and with their parties.

So you have an issue with legislation before the parliament or you want to use the parliamentary process to help build your campaign to do with wages or conditions, what can you do?

What you need to do before you come to parliament · prepare a one page brief. You can have the back up documents if you want to, but the quickest way to get MPs and their staffers tuned into your needs is to present a few dot points that cover: o what is wrong, o what has to change o what you want the MP to do On the last point you may not have any specific ideas other than calling on the MP to support your case. That is OK as the MP knows what they can do.

In recent years lobbying has become synonymous with experts and the leading representatives of any organisation. That form of lobbying certainly has its place, but never forget to involve your rank and file members in your lobbying of MPs. Taking along a number of workers from the job when you meet the Minister can help strengthen your message.

Lobbying can be very powerful when you target MPs en masse. This can be done through electorate offices or at parliament house. The advantage of doing it at parliament house is that all your members are there together meeting their local MPs, wandering through the corridors, and congregating in the forecourt. This strength in numbers can become a media event in itself, and the strength in numbers sends a powerful message to all MPs.

o Last month the NSW Teachers Federation organised a lobbying day on class sizes. A couple of hundred teachers spent a budy few hours lobbying their local MPs last month in a show of force that has already helped to move forward the debate on class sizes.

As well as interacting with the parliamentary process (see below) there are various other ways MPs can assist you to use parliament.

· Rooms for functions. Finding meeting rooms in Sydney is becoming increasingly difficult. Parliament offers a range of rooms, from small meeting rooms to the Theatrette for public functions. All you need is an MP to host the event. Of an evening facilities are available only when parliament is sitting. o In the four years that I have been in parliament I have seen the Theatrette used only twice on industrial issues. One was a meeting organised by the NSW Labor Council on workers' compensation and the other was about the Social and Community Services Award.

· Media facilities. All the major media outlets, and many smaller ones, have people working in parliament. You can interact with them in a number of ways: o Box your media releases. There are 40 boxes. A number of organisations email or fax their release to an MPs' office they have developed a relationship with and one of the staff run off 40 copies and box them. o Press conferences. MPs can host press conferences and the MP does not need to be on the platform so any group can run a media conference independent of any political party.

· Relationships with MPs office. Cultivate a friendly MP and get to know their staff. What you should be looking for is someone who will be your eyes and ears in parliament so they alert your office to any issues they believe would be of interest and concern to your organisation. And that office in turn can assist in facilitating media work, lobbying and the holding of events at parliament.

· Free distribution of your material to all MPs. Any MP can arrange for your materials to be sent to the 93 members of the Legislative Assembly and the 42 members of the Legislative Council. Periodically it is worth sending out materials on your key campaigns, as well as sending your journal to some MPs.

· Speak at a crossbench briefing. On each Tuesday morning that parliament is sitting you can request to brief crossbench members and their staff on legislation before the parliament or any campaign you may be working on. Each briefing is for half an hour.

· Amendments to bills. Say you have been lobbying the government, they have agreed to bring in a piece of legislation you want but they have not met all your demands. Come and talk to the Greens about moving what has been left out as amendments. That is how we work with a range of organisations and there have even been one or two occasions where a minister's office has leaked us issues that they could not get through the cabinet but they wanted to get a public airing. In many cases we move amendments that have no hope of being passed as a political statement.

· Questions. Questions asked in the House during question time can be used to gain information but are best used strategically to put pressure on the government or embarrass them over some incident. At the moment each cross bench member averages about two questions per a three-day sitting. Questions can also be asked with notice and there are no limits on the number that can be submitted. The Minister has 35 days to answer but the answers only come back when parliament is sitting. Questions on notice are very useful in gaining information but they also serve to add political pressure in a campaign. o We asked a series of questions about a possible closure of a section of a TAFE college that helped flush out and stop a secretive closure plan.

· Adjournment speech. The last half hour of each sitting day is the adjournment debate. At this time MPs can speak on any subject. A number of MPs use it to speak about current campaigns, events they have attended, anything they want to air possibly using the privilege that being an MP provides. o Ian West, Peter Primrose and myself often use our adjournment speech slots to raise workers' rights issues

· Private members bills. Any MP can ask parliamentary counsel to draft a private members bill. There could be occasions when a union might consider working with a cross bencher to develop a private members' bill on an issue they are campaigning on. A number of private members' bills have passed through the Legislative Council. But only the conservative ones, usually on law and order issues, have then been given support in the Legislative Assembly and become law. However, even where a bill does not pass it can be another useful tool in one's campaign as it demonstrates to the government of the day how your issue can be achieved.

In 2001 the Legislative Council debated the Greens Education (Reduction of Financial Assistance to Wealthy Non-government Schools) Amendment Bill. This Bill was very much part of the growing campaign in support of public education in NSW. We also have a bill on TAFE that has not yet come before the House for debate.

· Motions. MPs can move motions on any subject. This is a useful way to get an issue on the record, and again it sends a message to the government of your union's concerns. Only a small number of motions are debated. When an issue is urgent or has some immediacy it is often possible to win support in the House to bring on debate by contingency.

In 1999 the Greens motion in support of teachers' striking over their pay claim was passed by the Legislative Council. This motion was read out at the 10,000 strong rally of striking teachers outside Parliament on the day after the motion was passed.

· Release of papers. In many campaigns information flow from a Minister's office or a government department can dry up. Following an interesting court case the government regularly agrees to the release of internal reports, briefing documents, correspondence, electronic communications, etc. This often results in boxes of information being delivered to the Clerk's office in the Legislative Council. In some circumstances this tactic can be useful.

· Regulations. MPs do not play any role in formulating Regulations, however, we do have the power to move for their disallowance within 30 days of being gazetted. Once a motion for disallowance is lodged debate on that matter comes on automatically at the next day of sitting.