A move by the Federal Government to introduce a 'code of conduct' (www.smh.com.au) for political lobbyists in Canberra sounds like a great reform, but one that is easily dismissed as sheer window dressing.
Mr Rudd is proposing to put more restrictions on exactly how and when lobbyists influence our elected members of parliament - but what makes it hard to take seriously is that the Prime Minister and the Canberra press gallery appears to have turned a blind eye to one of the closest lobbying relationships happening right before our eyes.
The case in question involves ACT Labor Senator Kate Lundy who for years has engaged in Senate debates on telecommunications policy without adequately disclosing the potential conflict of interest created by the business interests of her husband - David Forman - who just happens to be on the payroll of the anti-Telstra cartel.
Over the past decade I've been watching Senate committees closely and I've never seen Senator Lundy declare her relationship, or even abstain from any debate in which there is a risk that she could be seen to be pushing the interests of her lobbyist husband.
At times you get the impression that Lundy and Mr Forman plan their pincer attacks on Telstra over the family breakfast table before taking themselves up the hill and staging a public re-enactment before the cameras in Parliament House.
Take an example from a fortnight ago.
On the same day the SingTel CEO was out attacking Telstra and Mr Forman was releasing a bogus report claiming Telstra would be overcharging customers on the planned high speed fibre network, Senator Lundy diverted Senate estimates to ask a series of Dorothy dixer questions in pursuit of her husband’s latest cause.
If you read the exchange on Hansard (P44 - www.aph.gov.au), you'll see Senator Lundy sought the Senate's 'indulgence' to steer the debate away from the more pressing issue of petrol prices, so she could waste time engaging the ACCC's Graeme Samuel on her husband's pet cause.
A week later, Mr Forman used the exchange to conduct another anti-Telstra PR attack , which some in the media (www.computerworld.com.au) swallowed hook, line and sinker.
None of the journalists who took the Forman bait seemed at all bothered to question or even mention his relationship with Senator Lundy.
Similarly, none of the bureaucrats who are meant to uphold the standards of the Senate ever publicly raise objections when Senator Lundy so blatantly goes off on one of her anti-Telstra tangents.
As for the Liberal and National Party Senators – they’re equally silent. Not surprising really when you consider former Liberal Senator John Tierney used the Senate committees to stage an extraordinary attack on Telstra a few years ago, failing to declare that his wife worked for a charity Telstra was proposing to cease a sponsorship arrangement with at the time. Once again, all the 'insiders' including the Prime Minister knew about the Senator's relationship, but no questions were asked and no disclosures were made or sought.
I find it disgusting and it certainly makes me wonder about the real health of our democracy and the real prospect of passing meaningful reforms to control insidious lobbyists.