{"id":1017668,"date":"2026-08-22T19:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1017668\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T19:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:49:37","slug":"inside-parliament-house-powerful-lobbyists-can-outnumber-politicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1017668\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Parliament House, powerful lobbyists can outnumber politicians"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior officer in Canberra’s Parliament House has received an urgent message.<\/p>\n

An interloper is in one of the break rooms.<\/p>\n

These rooms, with their kitchenette, dining table, and comfortable couches, are where Senate staffers can relax, have a cup of tea or eat their lunch in peace.<\/p>\n

But today, a gatecrasher is sitting on a couch in one of the break rooms, holding a video meeting on his laptop.<\/p>\n

Independent ACT senator David Pocock has seen this before.<\/p>\n

“He’s forever setting up shop in the break rooms, which are meant to be for staff to actually go and have a lunch break and use a microwave,” he says.<\/p>\n

“He’s in there doing Zoom calls.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

David Pocock says the interloper is well-known among parliamentarians.\u00a0 (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

Staffers from the senator’s office have emailed the Senate’s senior administrative officer, known as the Usher of the Black Rod, to report the incursion.<\/p>\n

But by the time a member of the Black Rod’s office arrives, the man has left.<\/p>\n

His identity is known to all in Senator Pocock’s office.<\/p>\n

“The guy is head of Responsible Wagering Australia,” Senator Pocock says.<\/p>\n

“He camps out in Parliament House \u2026 [and] has a lot of access.”<\/p>\n

His name is Kai Cantwell.<\/p>\n

If Mr Cantwell feels at home inside Parliament House, it’s because he’s worked there before, as a senior ministerial adviser during the Morrison government.<\/p>\n

Now he’s a lobbyist for the sports betting industry.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kai Cantwell lobbies policymakers on behalf of sports betting companies.\u00a0 (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

The revolving door from government to lobbying<\/p>\n

Mr Cantwell is a product of what’s known around Canberra as “the revolving door” \u2014 the custom of outgoing ministers, senior advisers and public servants becoming lobbyists or corporate consultants.<\/p>\n

Leveraging their connections and experience, they try to influence public policy, win government contracts and secure project approvals.<\/p>\n

They represent a range of interest groups, including gas companies, alcohol retailers, religious organisations, weapons manufacturers and AI companies.<\/p>\n

During Mr Cantwell’s time in government, he served as chief of staff to then-Social Services minister Anne Ruston while she was responsible for managing gambling harm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is now the chief executive of Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA), the peak body representing some of Australia’s most powerful sports betting companies, including Sportsbet and bet365.<\/p>\n

“He’s helped frame laws to reduce gambling harm \u2026 and then he’s jumped the fence and he’s working for the gambling industry,” independent MP Monique Ryan says.<\/p>\n

“You have to wonder, at what point did he start to have conversations with the gambling industry about taking up that role?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Monique Ryan wants greater transparency around lobbying.\u00a0 (ABC News: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

The regulations granting inside access<\/p>\n

Ordinary Australians are unable to see the true scale of lobbying in Australia, even if they search the public lobbyists register.<\/p>\n

Mr Cantwell’s name does not appear on the list.<\/p>\n

That is because federal lobbying regulations only apply to “third-party” professional lobbyists who are engaged by external clients, and ignore the industry associations and hundreds of “in-house” lobbyists employed by companies and corporations.<\/p>\n

Responsible Wagering Australia is considered an “industry association” under Commonwealth rules and therefore does not have to be registered.<\/p>\n

It means RWA and its representatives are not subject to the Commonwealth Lobbying Code of Conduct and its sanctions.<\/p>\n

Among a crowd of suits, briefcases and blazers moving through the building, the defining feature of a lobbyist is their orange pass.<\/p>\n

Recent changes mean some of them will begin wearing a light blue pass instead.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Lobbying firm employees can use an orange pass to access restricted areas of Parliament House. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

By swiping a pass at security checkpoints, lobbyists can access restricted areas that are banned to the public, such as the labyrinth of corridors that lead to the offices of MPs and senators.<\/p>\n

Ms Ryan says politicians are outnumbered by them.<\/p>\n

“We are surrounded,” she says.<\/p>\n

Under changes introduced by the Albanese government, anyone wanting a pass now needs two parliamentarians to sponsor them instead of one.<\/p>\n

Fear of making powerful enemies<\/p>\n

During parliamentary sitting weeks, the RWA boss is everywhere.<\/p>\n

If Mr Cantwell isn’t conducting business in a break room, he can often be spotted walking the corridors or meeting people at Aussies, a caf\u00e9 inside Parliament House where politicians, journalists, staffers and lobbyists swap information and gossip.<\/p>\n

Here, media-related filming, recording and photography are strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n

Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello knows the caf\u00e9 well.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Tim Costello says the rules favour lobbyists. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

“Kai Cantwell effectively lives at Aussies,” Reverend Costello says.<\/p>\n

“He’s set up permanent camp there, so he’s very effective.”<\/p>\n

Labor MP and Parliamentary Friends of Gambling Harm Minimisation co-chair Mike Freelander is under no illusion about just how much influence the gambling lobby wields.<\/p>\n

“The prime minister is very worried about making enemies of very powerful groups,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I think we saw that years ago when we tried to reign in the clubs and pubs around poker machines and things.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Mike Freelander has defied his own party by speaking up about gambling harm. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

The gambling industry’s access extends to almost every aspect of federal parliament.<\/p>\n

During sitting weeks, MPs and staffers often gather at a field in the shadow of Parliament House to play soccer or touch football.<\/p>\n

These hit-outs are organised by the Australian Parliament Sports Club.<\/p>\n

As a former captain of the Wallabies rugby union team, Senator Pocock is arguably the club’s most credentialed member in history.<\/p>\n

But last year, the senator was stunned to discover the Parliament Sports Club was taking funding from the gambling industry.<\/p>\n

“They were essentially being sponsored by a whole bunch of companies, industry groups, including the gambling lobby,” Senator Pocock says.<\/p>\n

“The gambling lobby were paying for access to events.”<\/p>\n

\"close-up<\/p>\n

Kai Cantwell on the sidelines of a Parliament Sports Club match. \u00a0 (ABC News: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

Dr Freelander says powerful lobby groups rarely donate money without getting some benefit.<\/p>\n

“You should always follow the money, because the money always wins,” he says.<\/p>\n

Four Corners has analysed political donations from 93 federally-registered lobbying firms between 1998 and 2025.\u202f<\/p>\n

All up, they disclosed about $13.5 million in donations.<\/p>\n

For the top 10 firms, the combined total to Labor and the Coalition was about $4.8 million.<\/p>\n

Of that, more than $3 million went to Labor, with lobbying firm Hawker Britton accounting for about $1.16 million alone.<\/p>\n

Pyne & Partners donated about $68,000 to Labor, and $35,000 to the Coalition.<\/p>\n

And those are just political donations from publicly registered firms.<\/p>\n

Not all lobbyists are equal<\/p>\n

On the other side of the lobbying fence to Mr Cantwell is Kate Seselja.<\/p>\n

A mother of six who nearly lost everything to poker machines, Ms Seselja also sports an orange pass.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Kate Seselja says gambling reform advocates struggle to get their message heard in parliament. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

She is the co-chair of Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts, a not-for-profit group formed to reduce the damage caused by gambling, and she is sponsored by Senator Pocock.<\/p>\n

“Just because we both have an orange pass doesn’t equal the same access,” Ms Seselja says.<\/p>\n

“It’s incredibly hard to get meetings in Parliament House.”<\/p>\n

She says she recently found herself sitting near Mr Cantwell at Aussies when she received a phone call from a distressed father.<\/p>\n

“He had just discovered his son was $150,000 in debt from sports betting,” Ms Seselja says.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to hand [Kai] the phone and go, ‘Kai, you deal with this.'”<\/p>\n

A bipartisan push for greater transparency<\/p>\n

There is some bipartisan support in the parliament for industry groups, such as RWA, to be bound by the lobbyist register and the code of conduct.<\/p>\n

“It’s an organisation which seeks to change the behaviour of government by meeting with politicians and changing the way that we behave or the decisions that we make,” Ms Ryan says.<\/p>\n

“It’s clearly a lobbying group.”<\/p>\n

Liberal MP and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Gambling Harm Minimisation, Simon Kennedy, also backs tightening the rules.<\/p>\n

“We should have as much transparency in this area as possible,” he says.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to see them treated any differently from any other group that comes to Parliament House to actively try and advance their interests.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Liberal MP Simon Kennedy has advocated for tighter gambling advertising laws. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)<\/p>\n

Dr Freelander agrees RWA should be registered.<\/p>\n

“When they are seeing individual parliamentarians, they need to show those credentials,” he says.<\/p>\n

“That’s who they’re lobbying for.”<\/p>\n

Mr Cantwell declined an interview request from Four Corners.<\/p>\n

In a statement, RWA says it complies with all applicable laws, disclosure requirements and parliamentary protocols.<\/p>\n

It says it rejects any suggestion its conduct has been improper, something Four Corners is not suggesting.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lobbyists can access areas in parliament blocked to the public. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

Labor’s gambling reforms pass parliament<\/p>\n

Last week the Albanese government passed a series of gambling law changes after landing a deal with the Coalition.<\/p>\n

Instead of introducing a total ban on online gambling advertising, as recommended by a landmark review led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, the government will establish an online register for Australians to “opt out” of ads across platforms.<\/p>\n

Betting companies will be responsible for identifying their own problem gamblers and cutting off inducements \u2014 a measure criticised by one Liberal MP as “putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank”.<\/p>\n

VIP account managers will be banned from earning a commission from customers’ gambling spending.<\/p>\n

Senator Pocock says the gambling lobby has had a massive win by stopping serious reform.<\/p>\n

“This is a PM that is captured by the gambling lobby,” he says.<\/p>\n

“They’ve won this one because they got to the prime minister.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Watch Four Corners’ full investigation Access All Areas on Monday night from 8:30pm on ABC TV and <\/strong>ABC iview.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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