Technology lobbyists prepare for regime change

Government IT procurement, how tech giants are taxed and the upcoming copyright reforms are just some of the major technology issues Australia’s leading political lobbyists are chattering about as they position their clients for a tipped change in government.

Often reviled as sinister and opaque, federal government lobbying firms have become prominent, and some argue more helpful to decision makers, under reforms launched by the Rudd government in 2007.

The reforms forced lobbying firms to register their existence, their clients and their main personnel if they were to have any dealings with the government. The register reveals there are some 259 firms seeking to cultivate federal regulators and politicians, but it excludes in-house lobbyists from tech giants such Telstra, Microsoft, Google and IBM.

Furthermore it exempts industry associations such as the AIIA and Communications Alliance, which have major lobbying activities, as well as large-scale firms such as Ernst and Young that continue to take advantage of the exemption for accounting and law firms to conduct lobbying activities without public scrutiny.

Based on the register, as well as discussions with leading lobby firms, the following are the current leaders in tech lobbying:

Telstra: In addition to having substantial in-house resources of 30 or more advisers in its regulatory and government affairs unit, the major telecommunications provider also engages no fewer than five separate lobby firms for additional advice including Bush Consulting, Public Policy Solutions, Parker & Partners Public Affairs, RedStick Strategic Communications and Butcher and Co.

Microsoft:  Estimated to have up to 10 relations staff eyeing state and federal procurement deals along with broader regulatory concerns, Microsoft is notable for not using any of the lobbying firms on the federal register.

IBM Australia: Also thought to have a substantial in-house lobby component and not represented by any of the firms on the lobby register. According to one insider, the task often coincides with broad government account management as part of its deals with government.

Google Australia: Is thought to have an in-house staff of three. In May Google Australia poached the Prime Minister's senior adviser, Damian Kassabgi, to manage its public policy affairs.

Read on for a list of the major lobbying firms and their substantial tech clients…

The Who’s who

CPR Communications & Public Relations - AAPT, Nextgen, Macquarie Telecom, Competitive Carriers Coalition, Google Australia, Alcatel Lucent, Facebook, OzHub (national cloud computing group).

Kreab Gavin Anderson (KGA) – Last year KGA would have been the leading consultancy and one of the few with permanent offices in Canberra. It once had active accounts for Apple, Australia Post, Time Warner, Vodafone, Google, Foxtel, McAfee, the Internet Advertising Bureau, the Safer Internet Group and the Advertising Standards Board. However a toxic split earlier this year saw many of its partners and employees form a new group called Newgate Communications which recently won the Google Australia account in an open tender.

Barton Deakin – a firm aligned with several Coalition party members including former John Howard adviser Grahame Morris, this firm is also regarded as a major contender with accounts that include Apple, Fujitsu, Motorola and Adobe.

While a change of government would see Barton Deakin’s stocks improve, a similar downgrading is tipped for Hawker-Britton, the firm attuned more to the Rudd Labor government’s times. While it touts itself as “Australia's largest national and international government relations and public affairs company”, its technology portfolio is surprising slim confined to AARNet, Silcar and the little known Broadband Industry Group.

Also regarded as strong in the area of technology lobbying is Galbraith & Company, whose clients include Intel, Juniper Networks, TransACT, iiNet.

In the sensitive area of government IT procurement, the AIIA has made procurement policy one of its strong points and its broad federation of state advisory groups has made it the major player in resolving procurement rules at state and federal levels.

In government IT tenders, Simon Bush’s Bush Consulting Group advises SAP, AHEDA, Fujitsu and Telstra.

Consolidation required?

Bush believes a rationalisation of various industry associations is overdue. The Communications Alliance seems to be taking up the oxygen of many of the others including ISP-based IIA and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA).

These associations depend very much on the tactical and strategic abilities of their secretariats more than anything else, according to Feyi Akindoyeni, a partner at Newgate Communications.

She agrees there should be some consolidation in the future due to convergence undermining the neat boundaries of the past.

“The AIIA is as good as any association and it would be helpful to bring together the various disparate sources of expertise of the associations under one policy wing, but keep the structure fluid, to allow scope for establishing industry fora on privacy and data, as well as copyright compliance and reforms.”

There was broad agreement that lobby firms would be getting ready for three major uncertainties that their technology clients will expect prompt and helpful advice on:

• The Commission of Audit which is likely to look for more savings in IT procurement projects generally;
• The coming tax review, which is expected to focus on tax minimisation strategies of major IT transnationals raised by the government in the budget in May; and
• Whether the move for copyright reforms may get stalled by an openly conservative stance taken by its likely Attorney-General, George Brandis.

Brandis has been reported elsewhere as being unlikely to move far from current laws.

However copyright is going to become bigger as it brings in the interests of universities, Akindoyeni said.

“Brandis and pro-rights lobbyists may find it difficult to hold the ground.” She predicts policy development will focus more on copyright enforcement change and less on copyright reforms in the near future.