May 26, 2026 — 5:00amThe revolving door between public office and the multibillion-dollar federal lobbying industry thrives on opacity. What little we do learn about it, meanwhile, generally comes from the attorney-general’s lobbyist register, which is hosted on one of the most poorly designed websites on the internet.So our eyes lit up when we discovered Senator David Pocock had created his very own parliamentary pass register to shed a little more light on which MPs have sponsored lobbyists to walk freely through the halls of parliament.Independent senator David Pocock. Alex EllinghausenMaking our way down the register, which Pocock compiled through a mix of voluntary disclosures and responses to Senate questions on notice, made for some fun reading.Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth is listed as the sponsor of a lobbying pass for her former deputy chief of staff and flack, Lanai Scarr, now head of government relations (read: lobbyist) at Telstra. Rishworth didn’t respond to a request for comment.The rest of the Telstra team, at least as far as we can tell, had their passes sponsored by former communications minister Michelle Rowland, who is now attorney-general. Rowland signed off on passes for Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady, the telco’s general counsel, Lyndall Stoyles, and Cecelia Burgman, a public affairs exec at the company, according to Pocock’s register. Rowland also signed off on a pass for News Corp Australia’s policy chief, Georgia-Kate Schubert. Rowland didn’t respond to a request for comment.Then there’s shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash, who sponsored a pass for Tom Fardoulys, a public policy manager and the token Tory at TikTok Australia. Cash didn’t respond to a request for comment.Teal MP Allegra Spender caught our eye for her generosity. The member for Wentworth has sponsored eight of these passes, including one for billionaire tech lobbyist Scott Farquhar. Spender didn’t respond to a request for comment.Reached by CBD on Monday, Pocock said he created the register as a transparency measure, and that he’s had a bit of pushback over it from Labor, the Liberals, the Greens, and the gas industry, refusing to answer questions.“I think everyone knows that we have a lobbying system that is not up to scratch here in Australia,” Pocock told CBD.“But I was shocked after being elected as a senator to learn just how loose it was, and this system of sponsored passes, where it’s basically this ability just to give anyone a sponsored pass, and they have an access-all-areas pass, and no one knows who they are, who gave them the pass, who they’re here to represent.”Heartbreak High star and disability advocate Chloe Hayden claims the Labor state conference needs to improve its access and support for people with disabilities. Instagram/@chloeshayden Heartbreak High star slams Labor state conference over access and inclusionHeartbreak High star Chloe Hayden may have missed out on sharing her thoughts at the weekend’s Labor state conference, but the award-winning actor and disability rights activist has used a far bigger megaphone to voice her concerns about the Labor Party – her 425,000-strong Instagram platform.The perceived slight has seen Hayden, who found fame playing Quinni on the Netflix series, slam organisers online, claiming she was denied the opportunity to speak, alleging access and inclusion shortfalls at the event and labelling the conference undemocratic.In what has turned into an own goal, the conference could not accommodate Hayden on the schedule at Centrepiece at Melbourne Park. The actor, author, podcaster and Labor member claimed to have been told on both days that time had run out for her to have the floor.Hayden in Netflix’s Heartbreak High with Gemma Chua-Tran. She had wanted to address a number of issues, including holding the party “accountable for the growing divide between their words and their actions” regarding inclusion, the “lack of access” at the event, the impact of NDIS cuts and the “exhausting bureaucracy” faced by disabled people.Hayden lives with ADHD and autism and has been an authoritative voice on equality and inclusion. She also knows how to make a statement, wearing to the conference a trench coat with the phrase “Fix the system, not me” on its back.After missing out on a chance to air her views, Hayden fired up her Instagram on Sunday afternoon to blast the conference, complaining that wheelchair delegates had been stuck upstairs for 40 minutes on Saturday, that staff did not know where the venue’s “quiet room” was located and there was a lack of live captioning during presentations.“I am sick and tired of accessibility being a buzzword pulled out for votes but refused to be used in practice. Democracy cannot exist when you are refusing access,” she posted before reading the speech she had planned to give at the gathering of party faithful.As of Monday afternoon, the reel had attracted more than 317,000 views – which is about 315,000 more than attended the conference.“You cannot sit there and pat yourself on the back for being accessible when your lack of access would cause rightful outrage and consequences if this lack of access was demonstrated in a local primary school. It is not democracy if participation is conditional,” she told her followers.Hayden went on to note Labor had enshrined reasonable adjustments to ensure inclusion in the Disability Discrimination Act and the Fair Work Act.All up, it was a big “do better” clapback.Labor Party state secretary Steve Staikos denied the conference was undemocratic, but acknowledged there were improvements to be made regarding accessibility.“We’re proud this was our most accessible conference yet; we acknowledge there’s more to do and we are committed to getting better each year,” Staikos told CBD.“Accessibility is an ongoing effort; we’ll keep working with Labor Enabled and our members to implement our Disability Action Plan and improve accessibility within our party.”CBD understands that Hayden was one of a number of delegates who did not get a chance to speak. A lift malfunction on Saturday meant delegates in wheelchairs were delayed moving between floors, and awareness of the quiet room location will be reviewed.It is just a hunch here at CBD, but next time Hayden wants to share her thoughts at a Labor event we figure she is likely to get the floor.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners