A federal Liberal backbencher has declared former defence minister Christopher Pyne's new job doesn't pass the pub test.
But Tony Pasin says a parliamentary inquiry into his fellow South Australian being pushed by Labor and senator crossbenchers would be toothless.
Mr Pyne has taken up a defence-focused gig with professional services giant EY, after leaving parliament at the May election, and plans to stick to the ministerial code of conduct.
The code says ministers must not lobby or have business meetings with politicians or public servants within 18 months of leaving parliament on matters they dealt with in their final 18 months in politics.
Mr Pasin says it's not up to him to determine whether Mr Pyne has or could breach the code, but it doesn't look good.
"Ultimately this is a question of personal judgement," he told Sky News on Wednesday.
"Right now, I think the fact we're talking about it is because the average punter out there doesn't think it passes the pub test.
"I come from the law ... if there's a perceived conflict of interest it operates just like any other conflict of interest."
EY says Mr Pyne will provide occasional high-level strategic advice that did not involve using any information received as a minister.
The two Centre Alliance senators want to get an upper house inquiry into Mr Pyne's appointment rolling as soon as Thursday.
Labor is also keen to pursue the matter but is yet to decide what process to use.
Mr Pasin said ultimately parliamentary inquiries were toothless.
"They will shine a light on these issues but they don't have any teeth in terms of what they can do functionally," he said.
"My suggestion is that we really look at this in a way through the prism of what is not necessarily technically correct but what is in the spirit of the code."
Mr Pasin belongs to the conservative wing of the Liberal Party and has clashed with the moderate and fellow South Australian Mr Pyne in the past.
In 2017, the SA party executive dismissed a complaint that Mr Pyne had allegedly undermined Mr Pasin in the lead up to the 2013 election.
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