Large firms in Australian politics: the institutional dynamics of the government relations function

ABSTRACT

Corporate political activity by large firms has increased in a range of western countries and in Australia. There has also been an increased tendency for large firms to lobby individually on firm-centred agendas. Both trends have seen large firms engaging in institutional adaptation, primarily through developing dedicated government relations functions (GRF). The last research on this topic in Australia was thirty years ago (Bell and Warhurst [1993]. “Business Political Activism and Government Relations in Large Companies in Australia.” Australian Journal of Political Science 28: 201–220.) and this paper updates this earlier research. It also frames the relevant developments as an important set of institutional challenges, not only for government relations (GR) managers within corporate hierarchies, but also in interacting with and influencing other key institutional interlocutors, especially government policy makers. The way in which GR managers deal with such challenges through building supportive relations with key internal and external interlocutors, and especially how this shapes the business-government relationship more broadly, is a key focus of the paper.

KEYWORDS:

• Government relations
• corporate political activity
• lobbying
• institutional change
• political influence

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Nicholas Umashev for meticulous research assistance, the corporate interviewees who generously gave of their time, and to Geoff Allen and Andrew Hindmoor for support and comments on the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an ARC Discovery [grant number DP200100521].

Notes on contributors

Stephen Bell

Stephen Bell is Professor of political economy in the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland. Prior to joining UQ in 1999, he held positions at Griffith University, the University of New England, and the University of Tasmania, as well as a visiting position at the ANU and at the Copenhagen Business School. He served as Head of the School of Government at the University of Tasmania and has been Head of School at UQ. His main teaching and research interests focus on questions of governance and institutional development with special reference to the politics of economic policy and the political economy of monetary polcy and banking. He is the author or editor of nine books and has published widely in leading national and international journals. His latest books deals with the rise of the People's Bank of China whilsy another deals with the 2008 banking crisis. Both are published by Harvard University Press. Stephen is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.