A Canberra-based lobbying firm, Precision Public Affairs, will pay for the launch event of the Parliamentary Friends of Aukus group in February at Parliament House. Defence Minister Richard Marles is the special guest at the event. Precision represents defence companies that have won big government contracts, including Rafael Australia and L3Harris Technologies. The firm already sponsored events like the defence budget lunch and the Aukus update in Washington, DC. Though private companies often support Friends group events, official parliamentary rules strictly ban private sponsorship. This has raised alarms from the Centre for Public Integrity and Greens senator David Shoebridge. Shoebridge said, “This one event summarises everything that is wrong with the toxic links between lobbyists, ministers, parliament and defence contractors that underpin Aukus.” Precision described the event as a chance to “foster informed, bipartisan engagement between parliamentarians, policy specialists, the defence industry and the broader national security community.” However, the company did not disclose the event's cost. Friends groups are meant to be cross-party forums to discuss and advocate for causes without external sponsorship. The speaker of the House and Senate president's rules ban such sponsorships. The Centre for Public Integrity’s executive director, Catherine Williams, called for transparency. She said, “In our view, friendship groups should be cautious about allowing external entities to fund events … because of the risk to public trust.” The event’s invitation was co-signed by Labor MP Matt Burnell and Liberal MP Aaron Violi, the group's co-convenors. They were contacted for comments. Shoebridge demanded the friendship group be disbanded, warning: “Aukus is like a siren call for grifters, keen to tap into the billions of dollars flowing out of the federal government to weapons manufacturers and consultants across the globe.”