Open government is best for democracy

June 12, 2008

Queensland's lead should be emulated nationally

AFTER less than a year as Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh is to be commended for taking the lead in an area of our national life in dire need of reform. In endorsing sweeping proposals to make government more transparent, she is on the way to helping a disillusioned public become re-engaged with the process of government. In his Right to Information report, former barrister, journalist, academic and political adviser David Solomon has drawn on his varied background to produce an effective blueprint designed to change the culture of government for the better. By its nature, public information should belong to the people, and not exclusively to politicians and bureaucrats. As a robust democracy, Australia has nothing to fear and much to gain from transparency, openness and an end to duplicitous cover-ups. Public administration and the quality of journalism would improve as a result.

In a constructive bid to roll back the encroaching secrecy that has permeated all levels of the public sector in recent years, Dr Solomon is proposing a system that would push information into the public arena rather than concealing it. Instead of the current expensive, slow and restrictive Freedom of Information processes, which frequently return endless pages of data blacked out, more documents would be available as of right.

The most significant of his 141 recommendations include allowing public searches of government databases, releasing an edited cabinet agenda and non-confidential documents after each meeting, cheaper and faster RTI applications and a privacy commissioner to administer applications for personal information.

And in a state where, disgracefully, a functionary had to buy a fridge-trolley to wheel cartons of documents into the cabinet room so they could be protected from public scrutiny, the recommendation to abolish broad cabinet exemption is vital. If the reforms proceed as envisaged, such documents would be released, unless confidentiality was deemed to be in the public interest. It is the public interest test, to be applied by the premier, that would partially determined how efficiently the new system would operate. For a premier bent on concealment, it could prove to be the weak link in the process.

While pertaining to Queensland, Dr Solomon's report deserves careful consideration by all state and federal authorities, ahead of effective reform. This is because nationally, at least 335 federal and state laws have specific secrecy provisions allowing information to be withheld for no good reason other than the Orwellian excuse that the laws provide for secrecy.

So seriously has the problem undermined democracy and debate that two years ago, a coalition of media organisations known as Right to Know - including News Limited, publisher of The Australian - was forged to restore and protect media freedom. As Right to Know spokesman Greg Baxter said yesterday, the RTI report and Ms Bligh's response "are the most significant steps towards reform we've witnessed to date". The report, he said, should be a useful template for other states, which "desperately need to lift their game". It should also inform the Rudd Government's plans for reform, overcoming the need for a lot of ground to be revisited.

As they review the report over the next eight weeks, Queensland cabinet ministers should put aside fears of occasional political embarrassment and act in the public interest. Adopting the letter and spirit of the Solomon report would blaze a trail for a new era of better government.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23849289-16741,00.html