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This article was first published on The Conversation Voters want their governments – local, state, and federal – to clean up their act and put integrity reforms high on the agenda. AAP/Mick Tsikas Danielle Wood , Grattan Institute ; Carmela Chivers , Grattan Institute , and Kate Griffiths , Grattan Institute This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s State Orange Book 2018 . Read the other articles in the series here . When it comes to cleaning up Australian politics, some states are doing much better than others – and almost all are showing up the Commonwealth government. Grattan Institute’s State Orange Book 2018 , released this week, compares the states and territories on the strength of their political institutions and checks and balances (among other things). Queensland and NSW received an A grade from Grattan for political transparency and accountability. Both...

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...