faulker03

You can't imagine that the Abbott government initiated attempt, still ongoing after 18 months, to close out the Office of Australian Commissioner can stand for long in the Turnbull government's name as it commits to the Open Government Partnership.   There are no bragging rights in that context for shutting down the independent advocate and watchdog for open government. Particularly when listing establishment of the office as a positive, a point picked up in Crikey.com today: Australia commits to open government, sort of . More than two years after the former Labor government said it was going to join the Open Government Partnership, the Turnbull government has begun the process of finalising our membership. The OGP is a group of, so far, 69 countries that all agree to be more open, accountable and responsive to their citizens. To be a member you have to go through a two-year action plan. Australia’s plan will be drafted, with public consultation, over the next few months, ahea...

Australia's fence sitting on where it stands on the Open Government Partnership continues to attract international interest. Included in commentary by Toby McIntosh in Washington last week was the response from the Department of Finance to the news, as McIntosh puts it, "that the OGP Steering Committee recently gave Australia until the end of October to indicate its intention to be an active member, or to join Russia as an OGP drop-out": “The Australian Government is positively inclined towards joining the Open Government Partnership but has yet to make a final decision,” the official said, adding, “The Government intends to form a view as soon as possible and will take as long as necessary.” As McIntosh received a response and having asked twice in recent weeks without success for answers from the Minister's office, this prompted me to try again, running these questions past the Media Centre: Has the government responded to the OGP Support Unit following repor...