The bizarre reason Parliament House won’t tell us who has a security pass

Of all the excuses I’ve heard for withholding public information, my latest run-in with parliamentary authorities wins the prize for the most creative.

For more than eight months I’ve been trying to get hold of a list of organisations holding lobbyist security passes to Parliament House in Canberra. I’m not even asking for the names of individual pass holders, just a list of the organisations holding “sponsored” passes and how many each of them has.

Releasing the information should be a no-brainer. Knowing who has unrestricted access to politicians in Canberra — as well as extensive use of parliament’s publicly funded facilities, let’s not forget — is fundamental to a healthy democracy. That’s why lists of passholders have long been routinely published in other countries including the US, the UK and New Zealand.

It is hard to make a sensible argument why this information should remain hidden from public scrutiny. What possible excuse, then, could parliamentary authorities come up with for rejecting my request?

This one: contempt of parliament. The Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 defines it as “improper interference with the free exercise by a House or committee of its authority or functions, or with the free performance by a member of the member’s duties as a member”.

It is a serious offence, punishable by a hefty fine and a jail sentence of up to six months. Bracing myself, I went back to ask what the hell contempt of parliament has got to do with security passes for lobbyists.