Ex and ethics

“EIGHT” is a lucky number in China.

The number is related to prosperity. Businessmen are attracted to this kind of significance. “Eight” represents success.

In Australia 800 and 8000 is about as lucky as you can get.

This is how much you get paid to be a part-time “consultant” with the Chinese business Landbridge.

That is more than a lucky number, that is sweet work if you can get it.

But you will not find this position listed on Seek. You need to know the right people who know the right people and the right people need to know you.

Former Trade Minister Andrew Robb, pictured, is one of the right people.

Robb has been earning this whack since he walked away from Canberra. By all accounts he was eager to get started. So much so he leapt from the barge of federal politics and into the free-diving open market well before the last federal election was held.

Andrew Robb was pulling down $74,000 a month while Malcolm Turnbull was calling the federal police to investigate the ALP.

In any language, this is a lot of money. The minister has actually retired upwards.

Wonder if he’s dragging in his parliamentary pension as well? Maybe he’s donating that to charity? Maybe he’s paying it back to the Reserve Bank to help attend to the debt and deficit crisis emergency attack? Who knows?

All we know for sure is that Robb is earning more than the basic yearly income every four weeks for some part-time work, and this must give him plenty of time to reflect on why he is worth all this cash.

He built his resume as a servant of the people. Thanks to his time as a front bencher, he is full of information that will benefit his new employer.

Landbridge is invested heavily in Australia.

This is the Chinese company that holds the 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin. It is well connected to the Chinese Communist Party. As a minister, Robb dealt with the firm on a regular basis.

He was employed by the Australian taxpayer at the time. Now he sits on the other side of the table, but he doesn’t see this cross-pollination as a perceived problem.

For some reason Robb refuses to believe there is (or was) a potential conflict of interest, despite the fact that he will not answer questions or provide details about his dealings.

If this template was imposed on a developing nation, Australians would condemn this as evidence of potential corruption.

This is why we have rules that are supposed to stop this kind of behaviour.

Departing ministers are not allowed to be employed to lobby the Australian Government on any matters that they previously dealt with as a minister for 18 months.

This ban ensures that a code of conduct is in place that will protect the reputation of the Parliament.

It guarantees that Australian politicians are seen to be completely trustworthy. Pity it’s not being upheld.

It’s a fact that Andrew Robb started working for his new employer in the same calendar year that he quit the House of Representatives. So this rule must have been broken, right? But nothing will happen. We know this for sure.

The division between personal and national interest is supposed to be sacred.

But examples such as Robb serve as proof that the lines are irrevocably blurred. There are countless faces on both sides of the aisle who have stepped seamlessly from politics into private sector.

The Australian taxpayer has subsidised their elevator rides, and it’s hard to see what we’re getting out of these golden deals.

There will not be a formal investigation into the corrupting influence of foreign donations to political parties.

There will not be a federal police investigation into why Robb was not held to the 18-month rule.

There will not be a change put in place to make sure this does not happen again and this is why it is getting exhausting.

In a week when the news cycle is full of terror attacks it’s an ideal time to pause and think about what kind of life we stand for.

What is our national code of ethics that we are prepared to defend? What Australian values are we upholding when we let men like Robb just wander off into the million-dollar sunset?

It’s hard to believe, but they always, always get away with it.

Fair dinkum. Ross Mueller is a freelance writer and director.