Top lobbyist firms realign in face of hung parliament

Samantha Maiden
The Australian
Monday 23 August, 2010

Labor's public relations firm of choice, Hawker Britton, has announced that its sister firm is joining forces with Liberal strategist Grahame Morris.

The fallout from Australia’s extraordinary election result is now being felt in the lobbying world with a shake up at the top of the government relations tree in Canberra.

After trading blows on Sky News during the campaign, Hawker Britton’s CEO Bruce Hawker and the Liberal-aligned Grahame Morris will soon be working under the umbrella of the same owners – the STW group, formed out of the old Singleton advertising empire.

Barton Deakin, a new public relations and government advice firm headed by former Liberal leader Peter Collins has agreed to join forces with Mr Morris and establish an office in Canberra.

In a private briefing note to clients today, Hawker Britton has confirmed this development and explained it remains a Labor-aligned lobby group.

If clients also want some of the Liberal Party action in the wake of Australia’s extraordinary election result it is urging clients to consider working with its new sister company Barton Deakin and its new recruit, Mr Morris.

Australia’s hung Parliament is expected to be a bonanza for lobby groups as business seeks advice on how to grapple with pushing their own agenda in the corridors of power.

Hawker Britton describes itself as Australia’s leading government relations and government lobbying firm.

“We offer an unrivalled level of expertise in Federal government lobbying and Territory and State government lobbying, as well as advising companies on issues, policies, and commercial matters related to Australian State, Territory and Federal government," its website states.

Prior to establishing Hawker Britton, Mr Hawker was a political adviser to ministers and shadow ministers in NSW for 14 years, including nine years as Chief-of-Staff to former NSW Premier Bob Carr.

Barton Deakin’s website says its mission is to “help businesses and organisations work most effectively with the NSW Coalition".

It offers to help companies develop stronger and more productive relationships with the Liberal-National Coalition in NSW and “Improve or protect your customer base the next NSW Government”.