With the greatest respect to Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Rob Stefanic, the public's right to know who is wandering the corridors of Parliament House on a mission to curry favour with their elected representatives trumps any right lobbyists may claim to be allowed to fly under the radar.
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Independent Senator David Pocock hit the nail on the head last year when he said "I believe if you're not willing to own up publicly to either having a sponsored pass [into parts of Parliament House off-limits to the public] or giving someone one - then maybe you shouldn't have one. This kind of transparency is what our community expects and is easy to achieve".
As the result of a call by Senator Pocock - which was supported by other cross-bench parliamentarians - an inquiry into lobbyists and their access to Parliament House began hearings on Monday.
While the Attorney-General's Department, which regulates the activities of lobbyists and keeps a public register, is open to reform the DPS has not exhibited a similar level of enthusiasm.
The Attorney-General's Department has said it would be open to "exploring the interoperability" of the lobbyists' register and the parliamentary pass system.
This would address a curious disconnect which means that as things stand a lobbyist who was found to have breached the lobbyists' code of conduct and been struck off the register could still keep the orange pass granting them access to the corridors of power.
That's because there is currently no linkage between the register and the pass system which is overseen by DPS.
During Monday's hearings DPS secretary Rob Stefanic sought to explain why any proposal to publish the names and details of lobbyists who hold parliamentary passes could be problematic.
It would, he argued, constitute a breach of privacy.
"The Private Areas Access Policy has clear statements in it - as does the form that applicants for a sponsored form complete - that provides an assurance that their personal details will remain confidential unless their consent is provided," he said.
"As the policy stands, and based on the completed forms, publishing that information would be a data spill."
But it should be be possible to update the policy and then require pass holders to lodge fresh applications for passes in the clear knowledge that if they are lobbyists their details will be made public. All that would be required would be a little determination from the parliament to clear the way for departments and agencies to publish the data.
The other objection, that identifying pass holders would leave them open to foreign interference, seems tenuous at the best.
Journalists, for example, also hold parliamentary passes that allow them to come and go. Their identities are certainly not kept hidden. Nor are the identities of the most likely targets of such attempted interference; the MPs and Senators themselves (along with, of course, their support staff).
What is perhaps most surprising is the revelation that nearly 1800 lobbyists have passes which must be sponsored by either a parliamentarian or the heads of the four parliamentary departments.
That's more than double the number of lobbyists on the Attorney-General's register (currently 697). And, given there are only 151 MHRs and 76 senators, that equates to a boggling eight lobbyists for every parliamentarian.
It must be standing room only.
