The company they keep: Where does your MP invest their money? Search our database

This article first appeared in Crikey under a joint byline with Crikey Deputy Editor Jack Callil.

As they make decisions that can affect the profitability of industries and businesses, federal ministers are prevented from investing in public or private companies while in government. However, there are no such constraints on their family members or parliamentary colleagues outside the ministry.

Crikey believes there should be much greater scrutiny of which companies MPs and their families invest in. There is no current evidence of conflicts of interest and insider trading in Canberra, but it’s vital to guard against these risks.

Exclusive analysis of interest statements by Crikey and Open Politics shows more than 410 shareholdings in 228 listed public companies and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been declared since the May 2025 election. This is likely an undercount, as senators are not required to publicly disclose their families’ holdings, and a couple of share declarations were too vague to be included in our analysis.