update from the democratic audit of australia ....

Peter Andren

Peter Andren, the Independent MP for Calare, has announced that cancer has forced him to withdraw from his campaign for a Senate seat. He has been a strong campaigner for democratic integrity as well as a supporter of the Audit. We send him our very best wishes for his recovery.

Victorian premier resigns

After eight years in office, Victorian premier Steve Bracks stepped down on 30 July 2007. His contribution to restoring democratic practice in the State, including entrenching the independence of the Auditor-general and of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is discussed in this article by Joseph O'Reilly in New Matilda:

http://www.newmatilda.com//home/articledetail.asp?NewsletterID=329&ArticleID=2390&email=1

Open government in Victoria

The new premier of Victoria, John Brumby, has announced measures to increase government transparency. They include:

Prioritising new legislation to reform the FOI Act;

Releasing an annual Statement of Legislative Intent from 2008;

Funding live web-casting of all sessions of the Legislative Assembly and Council—including question time;

Releasing quarterly reports that detail the costs and benefits of all Ministerial overseas travel;

Publicising the remuneration band and identity of members of Government boards and advisory committees; and

Posting transcripts of the Premier’s media conferences on his website www.premier.vic.gov.au as soon as they become available.

The media release is here:

http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/newsroom/news_item.asp?id=1105

Read more in The Age:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/brumby-vows-more-open-government/2007/08/07/1186252707831.html

Lack of good process over NT legislation

The federal government introduced the legislation covering its intervention in NT Aboriginal communities (Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 & Related Bills) on 7 August 2007. The Bills amounted to over 500 pages but were only made available the day before debate began in the House of Representatives. They were swiftly passed, despite numerous concerns being identified, and were sent on to the Senate. The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee was able to hold one day of public hearings on Friday before being required to report on Monday 13 August. This hardly amounts to proper legislative scrutiny and review!

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/nt_emergency/index.htm

Launch of Right to Know Campaign

A coalition of media organisations has launched Australia's Right To Know campaign in response to a tightening of the operating environment for media organisations and journalists. The coalition includes News Limited, the ABC, Fairfax, the SBS, and AAP.

The campaign's aim is to draw public attention to the growing restrictions on journalists and free speech in Australia. First priority of the campaign is to commission an independent study of threats to free speech and expression in this country.

The campaign’s joint statement is here:

http://www.australiansall.com.au/australias-right-to-know/

New Sex Discrimination Commissioner named

The Federal Government has announced a senior lawyer will take on the role of Sex Discrimination Commissioner, which has been vacant since Pru Goward was elected to the NSW parliament. Elizabeth Broderick is a businesswoman and partner at the law firm Blake Dawson Waldron and will take up the five-year appointment next month. The Attorney-General says Ms Broderick has been an advocate for women and championed flexible work arrangements:

http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/MinisterRuddockHome.nsf/Page/Media_Releases_2007_Third_Quarter_1682007_-_9_August_2007_New_Sex_Discrimination_Commissioner

Save the Senate

Two hundred and fifty people turned up for the 'Save the Senate' forum hosted by GetUp! in Canberra on 9 August 2007. Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans said that proper legislative scrutiny was in the interests of government as well as the people and helped save governments from policy failures:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/evans/15582.htm

ALP to cut incumbency perks

In his National Press Club Address on 8 August 2007, Shadow Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said that a Labor government will reduce the amount of public money being diverted to electioneering. Labor will cut MPs’ printing allowances by one third and ministerial staff numbers by 30 per cent, as well as abolishing the Government Communications Unit.

Read the full speech here:

http://www.lindsaytanner.com/speeches/070808_PressClub.pdf

Senate Watch

The Australian Democrats have been maintaining a watch over the government’s use of the Senate since it gained its narrow majority. They have published data covering the period before and since the government gained control, showing: the reduction in sitting days; the fall in amendments accepted (from 42 per cent to 1 per cent); the failure to agree to any orders for the production of documents; the increased rejection of references to committees; and the increased use of the guillotine to curtail debate.

http://www.democrats.org.au/campaigns/senate_watch/

US Senate tightens lobbying rules

The US Senate has voted to tighten the rules governing lobbying. The bill, which still has to be signed by the President (who, reportedly, has serious concerns about it), requires disclosure of ‘earmarks’ (special funds for specific projects slipped into spending bills), outlaws pensions to politicians convicted of bribery, requires disclosure of campaign donations that have been raised by lobbyists, and bars former Senators from lobbying Congress for two years after leaving office.

update from the Democratic Audit of Australia .....

Peter Andren: An independent way in Australian politics

Following Independent MP Peter Andren’s announcement that cancer has forced him to withdraw from active politics, his former Chief of Staff Tim Payne reviews his parliamentary career.

http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/papers/20070829payne_andren.pdf

The accessibility of administrative justice

The Queensland parliament’s Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Review Committee has picked up the inquiry on the accessibility of administrative justice initiated by the former committee, broadening the original terms of reference. The deadline for submissions is September 28th 2007. Full details of the inquiry can be found here:

http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/committees/committees.asp?area=LCARC&LIndex=2&SubArea=inquiries_adminJustice07&Bindex=2

Due process in Queensland local government mergers?

In the wake of the Northern Territory Emergency Bill, it seems it is not just the federal government that is keen to push legislation through without due process. The Queensland government has pushed through the legislation reducing the number of local authorities and councillors dramatically with little consultation and only one day of parliamentary debate. An amendment sacking any council that held a local ballot on the proposed mergers was introduced. The State government subsequently announced backed down on the threat after the federal government threatened to intervene to overrule it and to fund the ballots, and a Senate committee inquiry was launched to investigate the matter.

The details of the Senate inquiry are here:

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fapa_ctte/democratic_plebiscites_07/info.htm

update from the Democratic Audit of Australia .....

The lobbying industry - Time to regulate

Julian Fitzgerald considers the regulation of political lobbyists in this new Audit paper. He argues that a registration scheme would alleviate some of the problems that this burgeoning industry has brought.

http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/papers/20070920fitz_lobbying.pdf

Also on the subject of lobbying, John Warhurst (ANU) has a new book, Behind Closed Doors: Politics, Scandals and the Lobbying Industry (UNSW Press, 2007). In it, he considers the ways in which the industry has attempted to gain influence and the wider effects, both positive and negative, on the way in which politics is conducted.

http://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/9780868408798.htm

Not good news

The Audit’s Norman Abjorensen assesses the state of press freedom in Australia. The paper is based on a chapter for the Audit’s forthcoming book, Australia: The State of Democracy which will be out next year.

http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/papers/20070920abjorensen_media.pdf

Queensland local government

Scott Prasser (University of the Sunshine Coast) reviews the recent furore over forced amalgamation of local government in Queensland. Whilst there is agreement that some rationalisation of local government is needed, the process by which it has been conducted has been characterised by democratic deficit.

http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/papers/20070920_prasser_qldlocgovamal.pdf

Queensland and Victoria move on FoI reform

The practice of Queensland governments taking documents to cabinet meetings to keep them secret will be restricted following a review of the state's Freedom of Information laws. David Solomon, who heads the committee established by new Queensland Premier Anna Bligh to overhaul the laws, has identified the cabinet secrecy provisions as a target for reform.

"It isn't good enough for documents to be able to be wheeled into cabinet without any rules to keep them from the public eye," he said.

The move follows an initiative by another new premier, Victoria’s John Brumby, to overhaul the State’s Freedom of Information regime.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22443031-5006786,00.html

Queensland premier resigns

Peter Beattie became the third Labor premier to voluntarily step down in the last two years, when he announced his resignation on August 10 2007. He stated exhaustion as the reason for giving up the job after almost 10 years. His deputy, Anna Bligh was elected unopposed as his successor.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,22392717-952,00.html?from=public_rss

The Attorney General on a bill of rights

The General, Philip Ruddock had a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald arguing against an Australian bill of rights. Australia is the only Western democracy without a bill of rights or its equivalent, though the ACT and Victoria have now taken this step and Western Australia is consulting on a draft bill. The Auditor-General argues that a bill of rights will not ensure rights are respected and moves power from elected government to an unelected judiciary.

Read the article: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/30/1188067275092.html

High Court overturns prisoner vote ban

A High Court ruling has overturned the measure contained in the 2006 Electoral Amendment Act to remove prisoners’ right to vote. Following an appeal by a women prisoner serving a sentence in Victoria, the High Court overturned the ban. The Court did maintain earlier legislation imposing a ban on prisoners serving sentences of over three years.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22332956-29277,00.html

Access card legislation could be delayed

Legislation to introduce a national access card could be delayed until after the upcoming federal election. The bill was put on hold after a Senate committee warned that the smart card was likely to become a de facto identity card, and critics have rung alarm bells about the privacy implications.

http://tinyurl.com/2avvsc

Dr Phil Larkin

Democratic Audit of Australia

Political Science

Australian National University

Canberra ACT 0200

Tel: +61 2 6125 0696 or 1600

Fax: +61 2 6125 3051

By John Richardson at 20 Sep 2007 - 8:02pm
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update from the democratic audit of australia ....

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