Yesterday John Faulkner released the Federal Government’s long-awaited proposal for a Register of Lobbyists, seeking comments by the middle of the month.

While only a code, rather than legislation, the Register would be a significant advance in government transparency. But Faulkner’s proposal will only capture a minority – a small minority – of lobbyists. Like the WA model, only lobbyists representing third parties will be required to register.

In fact, take a look at the WA register – apart from the WA-only people, that’s pretty much who will be on the Commonwealth one, because most major lobbying companies operate nationally.

But the majority of lobbyists, the in-house representatives and government relations managers who push the interests of their own companies, will continue to ply their trade without needing to register. Surely the point of the register is to shed light on who is seeking to influence government, whether or not they are large enough to have their own government relations areas.

This is a major narrowing of the approach set out in the Government’s own Standard of Ministerial Ethics handbook from December, which refers to “individuals and organisations, acting on their own behalf or on behalf of others, whose purpose is to seek to influence (lobby) government on a variety of issues.”

The Government argues that third-party lobbyists are the problem – without transparency about whom they represent, there are questions over in whose favour government decision have been influenced.

There’s also the issue that requiring everyone who meets a minister to represent their company’s interests – or even confining it to the full-time lobbyists who work for companies – would make the register truly massive. But it can be done – the Canadians have been doing it for years. Yes, their register, which includes in-house lobbyists, runs to over 35,000 entries, but it provides a comprehensive guide as to who is trying to influence the Canadian Government.

The WA register – admittedly new – currently has just 74 entries.

Besides which, as Coalition spokesman Michael Ronaldson has already pointed out, the distinction between in-house employees and external lobbyists could easily be blurred with a short-term, part-time employment contract.

There are other major gaps. Peak industry bodies aren’t caught. Nor are representatives of non-profit bodies — trade unions thus won’t be required to register. Nor will religious groups, as Bob Brown noted. “It should cover in-house lobbyists and other third-party organisations which seek to influence government legislation (like the Exclusive Brethren),” Brown told us. “And it should cover all MPs and senators, not just Government representatives.”

And one of the biggest gaps of all is the exemption for lawyers and accountants. Only if lobbying forms an undefined “significant” part of their activities will they be required to be registered. The Coalition – who should preface all of their comments with the point that they did nothing about this for eleven years – is already warning of a shift to the American approach where the bulk of lobbying is done by “law firms”. And would Graham Morris and Stephen Loosley, who both lobby for PWC clients, be required to register?

We’re not talking about onerous obligations on companies here. One player who will be caught by the register, Government Relations Australia, have said they’re already in the groove of disclosure because of their West Australian activities. “We think this is a good thing,” GRA director Rob Harris told Crikey. “This disclosure obligation ought to be welcomed by the industry.” GRA even wants it extended across States and Territories to ensure consistency and avoid duplication.

There is one area where the Government has gone much further than anticipated. The ban on ex-Ministers lobbying for 18 months after leaving offices has been extended to ministerial advisers, defence force officers at or above the rank of colonel, or equivalent, and Public Service SES officers, who will all be banned from lobbying for twelve months after ceasing their previous positions. The days of ADF officers and military procurement specialists going straight into the welcoming arms of defence contractors would appear to be over.

The Opposition has called the Faulkner proposal “a reasonable first draft”. But it’s not even that. The majority of lobbyists will continue to walk the corridors of power out of sight. So Crikey is starting the Real Register of Lobbyists – the top operators who won’t be caught.

Meantime, you can let Senator Faulkner how you think the proposal could be improved by emailing lobbyistsregister@pmc.gov.au.