Sean Johnson does not identify as a journalist. Instead, he describes himself as a public transparency and accountability advocate who writes articles.
But given those articles shed light on the private interests that could impact the decisions of Australia’s federal politicians, it would be fair to say his work is entrenched in the country’s public interest journalism landscape.
Following a career first spent advising federal MPs, then lobbying, Johnson decided it was time to do something with a “bit more of a public benefit”.
So in 2022, he founded Open Politics.
“I’ve always had an interest in integrity, or not having corruption, in federal in politics, and I saw that there was a bit of a gap in this area in terms of the private interests of federal MPs,” he says.
“I thought there was a case for developing a website which made the interests more accessible and searchable, and also to do analysis on that database.”
Open Politics is a website that offers a database listing the private interests of federal MPs and their immediate families, from investment properties, to family trusts, to gifts.
The website also features articles written by Johnson focusing on specific issues, such as eyebrow-raising connections to tobacco, energy or gambling companies, failures to meet parliamentary disclosure obligations and criminal convictions.
Johnson says much of the information featured is publicly available through sources such as the Parliament of Australia website’s Register of Members’ Interests and Register of Senators’ Interests, the Australian Electoral Commission website and media reports.
But he says “terrible” search functions on some of these websites make it too difficult find information or discover changes.
“It’s fairly well-established that voters are entitled to know to what officials own, what they owe, what gifts and benefits they’re receiving,” Johnson says.
“[On Open Politics], you can more easily see what MPs own; you can search more easily; you can type ‘Tabcorp’ to see how many gifts are given, or ‘Israel’ to see how many junkets the Zionist lobby has given.”
He says Open Politics is non-partisan, with the only goal being to reveal politicians’ undisclosed interests, whether they’re One Nation or a teal.
But he does not go out of his way to be truly “balanced” in each piece.
“I’ve worked around politicians – some are some are good, some are terrible,” Johnson says.
“But I don’t think, ‘Oh, if I criticise Labor, I’ve got to catch that by saying, but of course, the Coalition has done dodgy stuff as well,’ because … it’s sort of irrelevant.
“If someone has done something dodgy … politics shouldn’t really matter.”
Most Open Politics content is behind a paywall; it would be better without one from a public interest point of view, Johnson says, but he needs the income.
Alongside other writing and editing gigs, he offers commercial services to companies and organisations – such as political risk assessments, anti-bribery and anti-corruption training, and due diligence – to help Open Politics become financially sustainable.
With Open Politics not being a not-for-profit, Johnson finds grant options are limited.
He says his passion for integrity and his desire to raise standards for the government by dissuading MPs from perpetuating dubious practices keeps him motivated.
“If a politician owns shares in a coal mining company and they vote against climate change action … it’s not corruption, but it’s a clear conflict. Equally, if they have investment properties and they’re opposed to reducing capital gains tax concessions and negative gearing,” Johnson says.
“The second aspect to why it’s important for private interests of MPs and partners to be disclosed is that it can help be a red flag for corruption.
“If a minister’s partner invests in a company shortly before it’s awarded a government contract, that’s the sort of information [the public should] know about.”
But he is still “amazed” at how little change comes despite revelations from Open Politics, or news media in general, about politicians’ questionable actions.
Whether it is a matter of an undisclosed gift or house, Johnson says a small “kerfuffle” lasts for about a day, while politicians show no shame, do not admit wrongdoing, claim the issue was a mistake and “the caravan moves on”.
He says there is no effective system for holding politicians to account if they do not disclose their interests and attributes slow progress on change to the fact every party has a vested interest in preventing it, with politicians across the political spectrum engaging in dubious behaviour.
Johnson points to Queensland MP Bob Katter as the worst offender regarding his lack of disclosure, but MPs ranging from self-described ‘voice for integrity and transparency’ Independent MP Helen Haines to Liberal MP Simon Kennedy have also been caught out.
“I naively thought when I started this that by exposing undisclosed interests, it would lead to reform – that there’d be a tipping point where MPs and senators say, ‘Okay, you know what? We really need to tighten up the rules here,’” Johnson says.
“It’s a club, it’s in all their interests to not actually crack down on it.
“Realistically, it takes a long time in politics. You’ve got to be hitting your head against a brick wall for a while before it cracks. And it’s not just me, the media has been doing this for many years.”
Sezen Bakan