Shine light on wheels of power
WHILE others fight the economic wildfire, Special Minister of State Senator John Faulkner, is paving the way for substantial freedom of information and electoral reforms, which as part of our right to know would be welcome gifts to Australia. They would make the work of the Australian Government and political parties less covert and mark a huge cultural change in public administration via increased transparency and accountability. After the troublesome nature of the last few Howard years and systemic problems in several ALP state governments, these days public trust in government is a rare commodity. In his quest to restore such trust, this year Faulkner not only intends to rewrite the Freedom of Information Act to free up government information, he has indicated that he also wants to change key elements of Australia's electoral system. It's difficult to tell which is the tougher task. Fundamental FOI reform will change the modus operandi of bureaucracy and media. Electoral reform will change the way our democracy operates. Resistance to these reforms will almost certainly be strong and often subterranean. While we are unlikely to see anyone bagging transparency and accountability in public, behind the scenes there will be considerable resistance. The Rudd Government 
Image via Wikipedia
Kevin Rudd: Image via Wikipediawill release a draft FOI Bill for public comment in the first half of this year. The legislation will be compared with Queensland Premier Anna Bligh'
Anna Bligh:Image by Brisbane Blog Is Against Censorship via Flickrs proposed root and branch reforms of the state's public information regime. Lawyer and journalist David Solomon examined the Queensland Government's information arrangements and went through them like Drano. Unusually, the Queensland Government seems to have accepted almost all of his recommendations.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=5fe97a2c-fcde-4a88-8ae3-4283ab153393)
Posts
