The Senate's family secrets

Paul Keating famously called the Senate "unrepresentative swill" in comparison to the House of Representatives. The Bankstown brawler's description may've been a little unfair, however the house of review can be legitimately criticised as the less transparent of the two chambers when it comes to the disclosure of parliamentarians' private interests.

The House introduced a Register of Members’ interests in 1984 following then prime minister Bob Hawke's establishment of a publicly accessible ministers' register the previous year. The reforms drew on the recommendations of the 1978 Bowen Report, Public Duty and Private Interest.

Against opposition from some members, the reforms required the public disclosure of the interests of spouses/partners and dependent children. For good reasons.

The disclosure of family interests guards against the risk that a member will make decisions or try to influence public policy in a way that favours the holdings of their immediate family. More importantly, it neutralises any efforts by a parliamentarian to conceal their interests by transferring them to a trusted family member.

Which brings us to the Senate.

Hawke proposed a Senate register too but it was not adopted, possibly because his government didn't have the numbers in the upper house. It took over a decade and the passage of four parliamentary terms before the Senate got around to establishing a register in 1994. By then Hawke had long left parliament (having been helped into early retirement by his ambitious treasurer).

But the Senate only went halfway, creating a two part register: one containing senators' direct interests that would be publicly disclosable (Form A), and another with the interests of their spouses/partners and dependent children that would be kept confidential (Form B).

To emphasise the private nature of Form B, the register's explanatory notes employ all caps by stating that family interests are "NOT available for public inspection" and can only be publicly disclosed if the Committee of Senators’ Interests determines there is a conflict of interest.

From reviewing the committee's reports page, it appears the committee has not disclosed the family interests of any senators during the term of the current parliament. This may be because the committee has carefully scoured all senators' statements and determined there are no conflicts of interests that need to be disclosed to the public. Maybe.

Whatever the case, the register rules mean we have 76 senators for whom little is known about their family interests, including their shareholdings, family trusts, real estate, and liabilities. Nor do we know if senators' families have received gifts, hospitality and travel from companies and lobby groups - given the families of some MPs are getting freebies it raises questions about whether senators' loved ones are benefiting as well.

The only time the public gets a slight glimpse into these interests is when a senator declares their joint ownership with their partners of assets - e.g. the family home, investment properties, and bank accounts - or joint liabilities like mortgages.

Open Politics' analysis of the registers shows the average number of disclosed family interests for a member is 15.1 compared to 1.4 for senators. If we were to assume that senators' families have the same average number of interests as members, the total undisclosed interests in the Senate Register would be 1041. That's an average 13.7 undisclosed family interests for every senator.

Of course the figure could be lower. Or higher. We don't know because the Senate won't divulge it. But we can be almost certain there are a large number of undisclosed interests recorded in the register on the Senate side of Parliament House.

Ministers

The potential for a conflict between a senator's public duties and their private interests increases when they are part of the executive government. Ministers shape new legislation and regulations to allow or restrict an activity. They can grant public funding to one organisation and deny it to a competitor. And they have the power to appoint people to public boards. While ministers are accountable to parliament and need to follow ministerial standards and public expenditure rules, they still have wide discretion in managing their portfolios. Cabinet ministers in particular.

There's always a risk those powers will be abused for private gain, which is why it is so critical for their family interests to be in the public domain.

As detailed in the tables below, there are 11 senators in the Morrison ministry: six cabinet ministers, three in the outer ministry, and two assistant ministers. The Opposition shadow ministry has 10 senators: four in shadow cabinet and six assistant shadow ministers - all could be sitting on the Treasury benches after the election.

Open Politics does not suggest these or other senators are putting their private interests ahead of their public duties. They are simply following the register rules. Further, a few senators would not have any declared family interests because they don't have a partner and/or dependent children.

However the Senate register as it stands increases the opportunity for a corrupt politician - someone like former NSW MP Eddie Obeid - to advocate for regulations, policies, and concessions that serve the family's concealed interests. At a minimum, the lack of full disclosure damages public confidence in Australia's political system.

The Senate needs to close the loophole by amending the resolution on senators' interests to require the public disclosure of spouse/partner and dependent children interests.

It's well past time. 38 years, to be exact.

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Cabinet
Marise Payne	Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Women
Bridget McKenzie	Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education
Simon Birmingham	Minister for Finance
Michaelia Cash	Attorney General Minister for Industrial Relations
Anne Ruston	Minister for Families and Social Services Minister for Women's Safety
Linda Reynolds	Minister for the NDIS Minister for Government Services
Outer Ministry
Jane Hume	Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy Minister for Women's Economic Security
Zed Seselja	Minister for International Development and the Pacific
Richard Colbeck	Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Minister for Sport
Assistant Ministers
Amanda Stoker	Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General Assistant Minister for Women Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations
Jonathon Duniam	Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries Assistant Minister for Industry Development

Shadow Cabinet
Penny Wong	Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
Kristina Keneally	Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Shadow Minister for Government Accountability
Don Farrell	Shadow Special Minister of State Shadow Minister for Sport Shadow Minister for Tourism
Katy Gallagher	Shadow Minister for Finance Shadow Minister for the Public Service
Shadow Assistant Ministers
Jenny McAllister	Shadow Cabinet Secretary Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shadow Assistant Minister for Communities and the Prevention of Family Violence
Carol Brown	Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism Shadow Assistant Minister for Tasmania
Patrick Dodson	Shadow Assistant Minister for Reconciliation Shadow Assistant Minister for Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians
Glenn Sterle	Shadow Assistant Minister for Road Safety
Kimberley Kitching	Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Services and the NDIS
Louise Pratt	Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing Shadow Assistant Minister for Employment Services and Skills