http://www.opengovpartnership.org
One must deplore Australia's achievements in embracing open government. And under the present Coalition government, I fear we are going backwards. Eg, what's planned for the NBN? What's happening re asylum boats? And why is Indonesia enraged at Australia's Navy invading their sovereign waters? Whose idea is it to invade Indonesia? It appears that the present elitist coalition government seems to be running a uber-secret, closed government. Compared to the previous government, it's "keep them in the dark and feed them ..." etc. They know best what's right for all of us? We are clueless? What an up-themselves bunch of elitist, patronizing and bumbling bastards. Not that the last bunch was much better regards the open government ethos. For one prime example consider the world-wide Open Government Partnership. Here's when countries have/will join: <http://www.opengovpartnership.org> Cohort 1 Countries (Sept 2011) - Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States Cohort 2 Countries (April 2012) - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Slovak Republic, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Ukraine and Uruguay Cohort 3 Countries (April 2013) - Argentina, Costa Rica, Finland, Ghana, Hungary, Liberia and Panama Cohort 4 Countries (April 2014) - Australia, Ireland, Malawi, Mongolia, New Zealand, Sierra Leone, Serbia, and Trinidad and Tobago. So, April 2014. Finally :-( Here's a news report of this announcement: (Quote) "The Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus QC, announced today that Australia will join the Open Government Partnership. The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation that promotes transparency in government, encourages citizen participation and tackles corruption. Australia shares the values of the Open Government Partnership and we have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with other nations in the partnership, Mr Dreyfus said. We believe that greater openness and accountability in government promotes public participation in government processes and leads to better informed decision-making. The Open Government Partnership provides an international forum for countries, civil society and the private sector to stand together to address the challenges of governance in the 21st century.." (End quote) And so, why did Australia take so long to join? Why not one of the first? One even seriously questions if we would ever join, under this government. Yet take for example the efforts of the Philippines, an early-joiner. This relatively new country has until recently a poor record regarding official corruption, and with President Marcos, was under Marshall Law for decades: <http://data.gov.ph> and can Australia claim to match these sincere plans: <http://www.gov.ph/downloads/2014/01jan/Open-Data-Philippines-Action-Plan- 2014-2016.pdf> I say pull your heads out, Abbott and Co. Commence an open government now! Regards, Stephen Message sent using MelbPC WebMail Server
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