“Even where holdings don’t influence ministerial decisions, they create a perception of a conflict of interest which can damage public confidence in our political system,” says Johnson.

In America, scrutiny of politicians’ share trades is nothing new, and rightly so, with numerous suspicious trades occurring before large market moves.

Nancy Pelosi, a senior Democrat and former speaker, is satirically regarded as one of the best traders of all time.

She reportedly returned a portfolio gain of 65 per cent in 2023, easily beating the S&P 500’s gain of 24 per cent, as well as the returns of every hedge fund on Wall Street.

With an estimated net worth of $US250 million ($381.7 million), she famously bought $US5 million of Nvidia shares in July 2023, before the chipmaker rocketed 180 per cent in the following 6 months.

Last year, while studying a journalism degree in New York, I briefly managed the ‘Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker’ Twitter account, which tracks unusual trades made by American politicians.

I documented multiple trades by politicians shortly before the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, in which several politicians sold millions of dollars of banking shares days before the prices of regional banks plummeted.

One of the most bizarre I uncovered, and one that was run by the Wall Street Journal, was a New York congresswoman who purchased shares in one of the failing banks a day before they were taken over, jumping 30 per cent the next day.

These trades were only uncovered thanks to independently created registers, such as the Capitol Trades website, that tracks the disclosures, the size and date of congressional trades. We have no such tool in Australia, other than the parliamentary register of interests, which provides scant information, only requiring parliamentarians’ interests be declared.

While we don’t have any Nancy Pelosis (that we know of), we do have a Barnaby Joyce, who appears to be taking a liking to meme stocks.

Recently, a most curious disclosure from Barnaby Joyce’s register of interests is the purchases in the defunct Bougainville Copper in March of this year. In the same filing, Joyce discloses the opening of Superhero and Spaceship trading accounts.

Bougainville Copper is a Papua New Guinean company that has not undertaken any operations since 1989 but from February to March became a meme stock, jumping over 100 per cent on multiple days following an announcement relating to an exploration permit.

Joyce has also declared a purchase of Lynas shares, the largest rare earths producer outside of China, for one of his children a month before Gina Rinehart, to whom he has had much to do with, also took a substantial holding in.

Other notable recent trades included those of Keith Pitt, the former resources minister who, earlier this month, purchased shares in several fossil fuel companies – Stanmore Resources, Woodside, Whitehaven Coal, and Coronado Global Resources.

Also not afraid of coal is Pauline Hanson, who has a declared an investment in Queensland coal company Bowen Coking Coal.

Then there is Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney’s spouse Leigh Hubbard, who appears to be a lithium and rare earths’ speculator.

In Kearney’s 2022 declaration of interests, she reveals his holdings in Vulcan Energy, Syrah Resources, Galan Lithium, Lake Resources, Arafura Rare Earths (which received $840 million from Labor in March) and Northern Minerals, which was recently the subject of forced divestment from Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

“Ged Kearney’s husband Leigh Hubbard has 36 shareholdings across various regulated and subsidised companies. It’s not a good look,” says Johnson.

To be clear, I am not suggesting any insider trading or anything untoward has or is occurring in our politics, but rather there is a perception that it could occur under the existing system.

Loading

Family and staff purchases should be considered the same as purchases made by the members of parliament and be subject to equal levels of restrictions and scrutiny in any new legislation. At the very least, the public should have access to information regarding the size and exact date of transactions as they do in the US.

From my experience as a trader, I can tell you the ASX is already as leaky as a sieve when it comes to share prices moving significantly before market-sensitive announcements such as contract wins or drilling results.

If America is moving to ban politicians from trading shares, we should trump them and go one better in banning backbenchers, their immediate family and staffers too.

Will Bennett is a freelance business journalist and day trader.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

For expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, delivered to your inbox every Sunday, sign up for our Real Money newsletter here.