Although this article is about America. My concern would be what is the equivalent figure for Australia?

I also vaguely remember Trump saying he would do something about the lobbyists.

Lobbying spending reaches $3.4 billion in 2018, highest in 8 years.

After several straight years of modest spending, 2018 was a banner year for lobbying firms.

Clients spent $3.42 billion on lobbying in 2018, the largest sum since the all-time peak in 2010, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Spending nearly $95 million, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce comes in as the top spender, as it has every year since 2000. The group spent nearly $26 million in the fourth quarter, hammering home its priority of getting steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico removed.

The National Association of Realtors finished in second place with a record spending total of nearly $73 million. The group spent $26.4 million in the third quarter, more than any other group, and $19 million in the fourth quarter as the group battled for realtor-friendly tax and mortgage reforms.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) surpassed its 2009 lobbying record, shelling out $28 million in 2018. The trade association spends heavily, but so do its members, including Pfizer ($11.3 million) Johnson & Johnson ($6.6 million) and AbbVie ($6.1 million).

Pharmaceutical groups are spending heavily to influence public opinion and policy as rising drug prices become an increasingly mainstream political talking point. The industry claimed the top spot among lobbying spenders in 2018 — roughly $280 million — with no other industry coming close.

Several individual clients ramped up their lobbying substantially. George Soros’ Open Society Policy Center saw the biggest change year over year, spending $31.5 million in 2018 and nearly doubling its 2017 total of $16.1 million.

Conservative think tank Freedomworks leaped from $130,000 to $1.88 million, and JUUL Labs spent $1.64 million up from $120,000.

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/lobbying-spending-reaches-3-4-billion-in-18/

I've hear rumours of this Govt subcontracting visa applications to private company-ies for $35,000 per applicant.
That's even more scary than the subject of this thread.

individual That one appear to be fake, I can find nothing relating to it also the figure of $35,000 each time would be ludicrous.

Probable from this.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/27/visa-processing-tender-turnbull-friend-labor-privatisation-pacific-blue-capital

Labor fears a potential $1bn tender to privately process Australia’s visas could go to a company run by one of Malcolm Turnbull’s former employees.

But the government said a competitive tender process was being run, and the prime minister had no responsibility for choosing who got the deal.

Labor’s Mark Dreyfus asked if Turnbull had a conflict of interest in relation to reports Pacific Blue Capital was planning to bid for the visa processing privatisation.

The firm is run by Turnbull’s former employee and friend Scott Briggs, who reportedly put together a consortium of companies including Qantas and NAB in a bid to win the visa contract.

“Given it’s reported the prime minister launched Pacific Blue Capital and that Mr Briggs worked for the prime minister’s private investment firm, does the prime minister have a conflict of interest in relation to this $1bn government contract, and if so, how will he manage it?” Dreyfus asked in parliament on Tuesday.

The government called it “a slur and a smear” of Turnbull. The leader of the House, Christopher Pyne, said: “The prime minister has no responsibility for public tenders in other ministers’ portfolios.”

Home affairs minister Peter Dutton said the “normal probity arrangements” were in place for the tender process. “The prime minister, myself, we are not decision-makers in relation to this particular tender,” he told parliament. “They are dealt with by the appropriate officers within the respective departments.”

A 2017 briefing by the former immigration and border protection department said Australia’s visa applications were set to rise to 13m a year in 2027, up from 9m in 2016.

The department called for expressions of interest in designing, building and operating a “global digital platform” to run visa processing.

Greens senator Nick McKim said privatisation would be “a corruption of the integrity of our visa system”.

“We are deeply concerned about the conflicts of interests that come with giving such power to corporations, especially given Dutton’s enthusiasm for it to be sold part-and-parcel with commercial services like finance, travel and banking,” Senator McKim said in a statement.

The wealthy political class is thinking of experimenting AGAIN with poor people's lives by putting welfare recipients in a selected area of WA on cashless cards because SOME people are spending cash on booze, gambling etc. There would be no allowance for people who don't drink, gamble or take illicit drugs.

And, for some reason, people's private information would be revealed to a PRIVATE company doing the dirty work.

ttbn Also Queensland

Controversial cashless welfare card to be rolled out in Queensland area

A new welfare card will be rolled out across the Wide Bay region of Queensland tomorrow, controlling the cashflow of thousands of welfare recipients.

From tomorrow, more than 6000 welfare recipients in the Wide Bay region of Queensland will start to receive the majority of their payments on a debit card.

It means 80 per cent of their payments go onto an “Indue” card, which can’t be used for alcohol or gambling, and is disallowed from cash withdrawal, with the remaining 20 per cent put in their nominated bank account.

Thousands of recipients of welfare in Wide Bay in Queensland will be moved onto the new system tomorrow, in an attempt to control their ability to use drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

The system will affect recipients of Newstart, Youth Allowance or parenting payments under the age of 35. Wide Bay is the first urban area to be trialled. Previous trials have rolled out in the Kimberley region, the Goldfields region both in Western Australia and the Ceduna region in South Australia.

The system in Wide Bay works like this: 80 per cent of the recipient’s income will go onto the Indue card. The remaining 20 per cent will go into the recipient’s nominated bank account, and they can withdraw the money and use it as cash if they please.

The Indue cards are used like a debit card. In different areas they have different rules. For example, in the Ceduna area, users can apply to have their percentage of cashless payments altered.

WHY ARE AREAS TARGETED?

According to the Australian Government Department of Social Services site, the reasons areas are targeted include communities with high rates of unemployment in different age groups or all age groups, are at risk of alcohol and or drug abuse, intergenerational welfare dependence, gambling abuse in the area and high levels of domestic violence in the regions.

http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/news/controversial-cashless-welfare-card-to-be-rolled-out-in-queensland-area/news-story/44d52794827774812ae4bb1134616624