The changes would improve transparency, Hipkins said.
“Making lobbying activity more transparent would show whether lobbyists get more access or not.”
The moves come after a series of articles by RNZ that highlighted the close relationships between lobbyists and politicians, and how they were also used by Government departments.
The revelations included how Hipkins’ chief of staff, Andrew Kirton, was previously part of a lobbying firm that worked for alcohol companies that pushed back against a proposed container return scheme.
It also follows the resignation of former minister Stuart Nash, who was stripped of his portfolios after a series of scandals, the latest in that he sent information about Cabinet decisions to two of his donors.
Hipkins announced the new lobbying measures yesterday, which also include establishing a voluntary code of conduct and commissioning policy advice around regulating the industry.
National deputy leader Nicola Willis said she supported the Government’s “tentative” steps towards addressing lobbying but wanted more action, such as a 12-month cooling-off period for former ministers.
“We think a compulsory stand-down period for former ministers before they can be lobbyists and we’d also like to see a register so people can see who’s lobbying for who.”
Act’s David Seymour was pleased the swipe cards were being ditched but cautioned against installing too many rules as it could limit access for normal Kiwis.
Green Party electoral reform spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said the moves were welcome but wanted more action taken around donations.
She said her Strengthening Democracy member’s bill would have limited the influence of big money - and closed a loophole that protected donations from disclosure if they are given to the Electoral Commission first.
“Transparency and vigilance” needed: PM
Hipkins previously said there was a need for “transparency and vigilance” around lobbyists and their relationships with politicians.
He said he was not ruling out taking action on the issues raised in the future.
It is understood these measures had been on his radar for some time but were pushed ahead after the reporting by RNZ.
Stuart Nash to retire from politics
Yesterday, former minister Stuart Nash confirmed he would not run again at this year’s election. Hipkins said they did have a conversation and he made clear it was Nash’s decision to make.
Nash was stripped of his ministerial portfolios and kicked out of Cabinet after a series of scandals, the latest being that he sent information about Cabinet decisions to two of his donors. It was also revealed last week that Nash’s office had failed to release the information as part of an Official Information Act request.
Hipkins has also released the terms of reference for the Cabinet Secretary’s inquiry into Stuart Nash’s communications with his donors.
“It will look at whether there were other breaches of Cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality, or perceived or actual conflicts of interest in communications he had with people and entities who made declared donations to his 2017 or 2020 electorate campaigns.
“Communications in scope are those by letter, email, text message, WhatsApp or Signal between 26 October, 2017 and 28 March, 2023 when Nash held ministerial portfolios.
“New Zealand should rightly be proud of our open and accessible government. I hope these measures will go some way to further increase transparency and the integrity of government.”
On Nash’s terms of reference for the review and why it excluded the 2011 and 2014 campaigns, Hipkins said it was because the focus was on when Nash was a minister.
On the Nash Official Information Act issues, Hipkins said ministers were ultimately responsible for what was being released.
Hipkins said the OIA was still a fundamentally sound piece of legislation.
Issues remained though around how it was implemented. Hipkins said he would not rule out a penalties regime.
Hipkins said he and Nash had spoken on Friday and they had discussed his past and future.
Hipkins said he had not directly asked Nash if he had lied to him about the email. He said he had either withheld that information or forgot, but the endpoint as PM would have been the same.
When asked if he would believe Nash if said he had no other things to disclose, Hipkins replied “clearly I did two weeks ago and that turned out not to be true”.
Lying was unacceptable but so was forgetting something as significant as the emails Nash sent to donors, Hipkins said.
The lobbying crackdown was related to recent events, Hipkins said. It was not specifically related to the Nash situation.
