A six-step strategy for lobbying government: Kate Carnell and Jo Scard give the inside account

Government and the public service work for you. Hypothetically, it should be easy enough to get in contact with a local member, council person, or representative when you have a problem that needs a solution. In many ways it is. Nonetheless, the idea can sometimes be daunting.

So, where do you start? Who do you call? What do you tell them? And how do you follow up?

SmartCompany Plus spoke to to PR expert Jo Scard and former small business ombudsman Kate Carnell to put this guide together.

Importantly, the piece helps to remove the hesitation that people can feel towards interacting with the bureaucracy and government.

Scard has more than 20 years of experience across communications, media and political advisory roles. Scard started her career in a minister’s office as an advisor, before moving to journalism and then founding strategic PR firm Fifty Acres.

Jo Scard. Source: fiftyacres.com

As she puts it, “these people in government are just doing a job. It is an important job, but they are not a king or queen”.

Jo Scard’s six-step strategy

1. Where to start

Research who you need to speak to — find the people/MPs/ministers/junior ministers who are important to the issue. Look for media reports and search for key words through the Hansard, which is a word-for-word account of parliamentary proceedings.

When you’re dealing with government, whether local, state, or federal, you’re dealing with the bureaucracy. The first step is to identify which person or department has responsibility for your issue. If you go to the wrong place, you’re going to get nothing.

As a simple guide:

Federal government: Immigration, postal services, telecommunications, broadcasting, air travel, most social services and pensions. It funds health, education, environmental issues, and industrial relations, but leaves the running of them to the states.

State government: Basically anything not listed as a federal responsibility, including schools, hospitals, conservation, major roads, railways, public transport and consumer affairs.

Local government: Building regulations and development, public health, local environmental issues, waste disposal, roads, footpaths, libraries, and community services.

Your local area will have a member of parliament (MP) who will sit in the House of Representatives at a federal level. As a voter in their electorate, they are employed to serve you. You can search for your local MP here, using your postcode.

2. Contact advisors first

Advisors sit between the public service and government ministers, meaning they are ideally placed between the drivers and the gears of government. They are often the best person to speak to in the first instance. Email them first, outlining what you want to talk about in two-to-three paragraphs, and let them follow up.

“You want to convince them to meet with you, not that you’re angry or a lunatic. You want them to think it will be a productive discussion,” Scard notes. 

You then follow up by phone to ensure they have that meeting request, and keep calling them every week until you get some sort of response. Finding the name of the advisor is helpful, along with identifying the secretary who handles the MP’s diary.

If you can find a chief of staff, email them too. By speaking to a couple of people, you are more likely to get a meeting.

3. Do your research on the person

You need to understand what they think about the thing you want to speak about, what their position is, and what they will likely say to you. By knowing this, you can suggest an alternative. Speak to stakeholders in the background, to find out what they think will likely happen.

4. Present your argument

Give them simple ideas about what the problem is, illustrated in a clear, one-page document you leave behind, with infographics if possible. Do not bring a meaty, lengthy document to the meeting. If they’re given one in a meeting, they will flick through it, which means they will focus less on looking at you and engaging.

Trying to get the tone right? Just keep it simple, affable and friendly. At the same time, do not walk in and tell a bunch of jokes.

“We are Australians, it is not a terrible formal culture, we’re not meeting a royal, we’re meeting a politician. Like anyone else, they want to engage like a human in a meeting,” Scard says. 

They will ask what you need them to do, or what you’re there to request. You need to have an answer, and an opening approach that is not too formal or rehearsed.

“You’re not on the stage or a Hollywood film,” Scard helpfully points out.

Cover your bases

1. What is the impact on your business?

2. Is it an issue that affects more than one person?

3. What are the economic effects they should know?

4. What is your solution?

Have a couple of ideas in mind. They may not know about your company or industry, so you should explain the problem. All of this should take no more than five minutes.

5. Come up with a position

At the meeting you need to discuss some sort of agreement that you will work on something. It is not just about disagreements, but mutual interests where you can work on something together.

6. Follow up

You always have to follow up afterwards. You can send another document with more background material, and if they’ve asked you for something first, let them know you’ll check in next week to speak to an advisor, or another person. Keep the person you’ve spoken to in the loop on that action so that they know what is going on.

Get the balance right between connecting with them versus hassling them. This means roughly an email once a week, or per fortnight depending on how urgent it is, Scard recommends. 

“Remember, this is just one point in time, and one meeting. You will have more, and need to understand that this is an ongoing process. There will be more opportunities to engage with people on this particular thing,” Scard says. 

If you feel frustrated by the pace of movement, and are considering lashing out, remember there are generally a lot of people that are involved with any one issue —so it is not just this one person calling the shots. If they don’t agree with you, go see more people.

What you shouldn’t do

Kate Carnell is the former small business ombudsman, a role she spent five years in after a varied career that included a stint as the national vice president for the Pharmacy Guild, chief minister of the ACT, and chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Beyond Blue; Australian National Association of Forest Industries; Australian Food and Grocery Council; and Australian General Practice Network.

Kate Carnell.

Carnell has significant experience on both sides of the table: lobbying, and hearing constituents.

The first thing she points out is what will never work: a shopping list of things you want addressed.

“It is really counterproductive. It gives politicians the opportunity to pick and choose: ‘I’ll have one of those, half of one of them’,” she says.

Instead, you should focus on one thing you want to see a result on, with a clear mechanism for achieving it, and a well-explained reason why it needs to be done.

Just as important is pitching something in line with the party’s overarching policy direction — you’re not going to get something that is at odds with it.

Stop the press

Tempted to go to the media to force the issue on the relevant MP, council, or department? Hold off. As Carnell explains, you only get one go if you approach the media, and, generally, once a story is run it’s likely not going to be run again.

“Don’t fire that shot until you’ve got no-shots left,” she advises. 

“If you’ve gone to a local member, gone through the processes, and not gotten joy, the media can be powerful to shake everyone up a bit and make sure they realise you’re not going away.”

There are exceptions, however: industry publications will be more likely to stick with a story affecting the broader community within it. SME focused publications like SmartCompany are a great place to go, says Carnell. You can build a coalition of your peers by telling your story to people in your industry.

With the larger media outlets, you can often lose control of the story: they’ll run it if it’s a crisis and they can get a shot in on the government.

Equally important is how you go to the media. Scard points out that you may need to express your disappointment, but in a constructive way.

A good template is, “I’m disappointed in X, what I hoped for is Y, there is another option here”, rather than saying “this MP is an idiot” or “this advisor is stupid”.

Opposition shopping

It’s not just about the party in power. If your local member is in opposition, you should still see them, Carnell says. 

“Get as many people on your side as possible, but never do it unless you have a solution,” she says. 

If you’re thinking about engaging with the opposition after not getting traction with the government, you need to ensure you’re not duplicitous. Be constructive in your discussions with everyone. The opposition has a genuine role in terms of questioning or providing an alternative view to the government.

Scard agrees with Carnell, adding that you should “not drop a dossier of awful things or allegations to the opposition if it’s not something willing to share publicly or with the government. They may use it in a way that is not helpful to you.” 

Stand together

A united group of voices will always be more powerful. By joining or contacting your local industry association, or chamber of commerce, you can increase your level of support. By getting the whole organisation behind it, you’re getting much more of a show, and there may be other business owners in the same position as you.

Need more information on which branch of government you should go to?

1. Local government in Victoria
2. Division of responsibility in NSW
3. Local government in South Australia
4. Three levels of government in Western Australia
5. Queensland division of government
6. Northern Territory government
7. Tasmanian government