faulker03

Disappointing that the Turnbull Government chose to keep the head down rather than step up publicly with a positive response to the request three months ago from the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee to recommit by the time of the OGP Global Summit in Mexico this week.  Spirits here rose sharply yesterday morning when my email inbox lit up: Re: Commitment to open government -  Whitney Brennan Office of The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP Only to drop like a stone when it turned out to be pretty much the standard boiler plate, pass the parcel reply to an email sent to the PM a week ago about the OGP and the related issue, the continuing saga of the Attorney General's attempt to scuttle the Office of Australian Information Commissioner.  Toby McIntosh reports over one thousand delegates from 94 countries attended the Civil Society Day in Mexico City yesterday prior to the official two-day OGP meeting. Meanwhile back in Canberra.......   Emails to and from the PM's office a

"The Chair of the Australian Press Council, Professor David Weisbrot, called on the Turnbull government today to demonstrate its commitment to open and transparent democracy by immediately providing the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) with sufficient resources to fulfil its mission under existing law. Professor Weisbrot also called on the government to send a high level delegation to the Open Government Partnership’s Global Summit in Mexico City, to be held on 27-29 October. “Australia used to be one of the world’s leaders in promoting open government and freedom of information, along with Scandinavian countries,” Prof Weisbrot said. “Now, there appears to be little interest in federal government circles, which is a great shame as these issues are more important than ever. "These are not only critical issues for all of us as citizens, but they are of particular importance in underpinning the work of the free press, which is reliant upon open access to

With one day until the Global Summit gets underway in Mexico City, Canberra maintains silence in response to the request in July that Australia indicate its intentions by this time. Distinguished former Australian diplomat Richard Woolcott is the latest to call on the government to sign on. On the Lowy Institute Interpreter Woolcott lists eight ideas for fine tuning foreign policy in the Turnbull era including: "Another positive change which Prime Minister Turnbull could make as soon as possible would be to sign up to the Open Government Partnership. Nearly 70 countries, including Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the US and the UK have already done so. Mr Turnbull has said he wants to have a more transparent and open government. Joining would reinforce his comments." Meanwhile Toby McIntosh in Washington notes that dealing with the few difficult members poses problems for an organisation that is guided by a steering committee consisting of government and civil so

Will we, won't we? Not a peep out of Canberra (except these unsourced positives ) in response to the request from the OGP Steering Committee in July that Australia indicate its position prior to the Global Summit in Mexico City commencing on 27 October. But out of Berlin a letter to Prime Minister Turnbull  from Cobus de Swardt Managing Director of Transparency International urging Australia to fully sign on, and send a delegate to the summit which will include a side meeting on how the OGP contributes to the fight against corruption: Transparency International would like to extend our sincere congratulations to you on becoming Prime Minister. We look forward to working together to achieve a consultative and open government that effectively tackles corruption. For Transparency International, a first step towards these aims is for the Australian government to realise its outstanding membership requirements as part of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Australia made a May 2013

The responses by Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd to questions in Senate Estimates on Monday suggest Mr Lloyd doesn't know what he is talking about when it comes to information access in the cause of transparency and accountability. Apparently he didn't know when he described freedom of information earlier in the year as "very pernicious." His comments this week showed he hadn't bothered to find out much since March, or talk to others including ministers about the subject. The Canberra Times and The Mandarin (registration) report his remarks but neither make the point that Lloyd based his claim on a false premise, and on that basis, ventured an opinion few outside the public service share: that FOI as originally conceived was intended ('particularly') to provide access to information about an individual's dealings with government, and that the law had expanded in the wrong direction since. FOI law since enacted (after years of publ

No questions of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet about the Open Government Partnership in Senate Estimates yesterday and no word from the Prime Minister. With seven days to the OGP Global Summit in Mexico City, will Australia recommit? Senator Gallagher raised a few other data policy issues with Deputy Secretary (Projects) Dr Heather Smith. Extracts: Senator GALLAGHER: Dr Smith, has your position had a title change? Dr Smith: Yes, my history on that chart was I was doing the G20 last year, so I was offline with the Sherpa. Coming back to government in March this year I have been taking on special projects. Senator GALLAGHER: Again going on an org chart, and I do understand boxes do not necessarily reflect commensurate workl oad, could you explain to me what projects deputy secretary of projects entails? Dr Smith: The two projects on the org chart, the first one reflects the recent administrative arrangements order of bringing data policy into Prime Minister and Cabinet. Senato

Jacob Saulwick's report in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday was a barbeque stopper where I was over the weekend and I don't expect that's just because I move in narrow circles: The largest transport project in the country could be shielded from public scrutiny after the government transferred control of the $15.4 billion WestConnex motorway to a "private corporation". The transfer means information about the Sydney Motorway Corporation, which is now in charge of building the motorway, cannot be captured by freedom of information requests.......When Fairfax Media requested, using the Government Information (Public Access) Act (GIPA), the salary and bonus details of top WestConnex representatives, Roads and Maritime Services responded, in part: "Sydney Motorway Corporation Pty Ltd is a private corporation and not a Government agency." Saulwick went on to mention that a spokeswoman for the SMC said a 2014-15 financial report would be submit

Senate Estimates hearings get underway in Canberra today.  Let's hope for clarification on where Australia stands with the Open Government Partnership and the future for the Office of Australian Information Commissioner. Estimates kick off today with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet PM&C now has responsibility for the Open Government Partnership. A response is still outstanding to the request from the OGP Steering Committee in July that in light of disappointment at the failure to follow through on the notice of intention to join in May 2013 Australia recommit to membership before the Global Summit in Mexico on 27 October. As former Victorian Supreme Court justices Tim Smith, David Harper and Stephen Charles write in Fairfax Media today on the OGP issue, " Time for Turnbull to step up on open government." The Office of Australian Information Commissioner is listed for hearing on Tuesday 20 October. The day that Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim's

I've no reason to doubt but hoping James Riley, Editorial Director, writing on Innovation Aus.com had reliable sources when he wrote earlier in the week: Having been quietly shelved two years ago , Australia’s plans to join the multilateral Open Government Partnership are being dusted off by Malcolm Turnbull and an announcement to formally sign-on is expected within weeks. Prime Minister Turnbull is understood to have considered a proposal last week to move ahead with the OGP, and the final discussions are underway to make that happen. The Prime Minister was expected to approve in-principal (sic) policy, which would provide direction for machinery of government negotiations which are currently underway and which will ultimate decide how Australia’s commitment to the program will be managed. Finance confirms responsibility for the OGP has transferred to Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and inquiries there are directed to Dr Heather Smith, Deputy Secretary (Projects

The  OGP Steering Committee at its meeting in July 2015 noted as "particularly concerning" Australia's failure to follow through with its membership application lodged in May 2013 and " agreed on next steps and a deadline for Australia to recommit to OGP by the time of the Global Summit." The Global Summit will be held in Mexico City 27-29 October. The only public response to date to the Steering Committee request was this answer (from the Department of Finance) to a question on 8 September : As has been stated publicly previously, the Government is positively inclined towards finalising its membership of the Open Government Partnership but is still considering its position. Once the decision is made, it will be conveyed to the OGP.  It's a matter for the busy Prime Minister of course - the last one was responsible for much of the dithering - although there is uncertainty whether Finance or the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet now has carria