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Openness,transparency and accountability a key focus at 2020 Summit

By Peter Timmins

From a report in today's Herald Sun, featuring comment from each chair of the 10 sub-groups, John Hartigan reflects on the challenge for Governance:

"IT has been easy for some to criticise the summit. Most of it has been superficial and cynical. It shows why a discussion is long overdue. The time is right for smart, passionate, creative thinkers to consider bold changes for Australia. The governance group will examine ways to overcome the limits of the electoral cycle that stifles the kind of bipartisanship that's needed. Australians often lack faith in politics and the machinery of government. We are increasingly denied access to government information we have a right to know. I don't think too many Australians are satisfied with the way our three levels of government work together. There are also questions about whether our rights are protected. Equally, there are calls for a return to greater personal responsibility.

In tackling these issues we've focused on improving the openness, transparency and accountability of government, overhauling parliamentary democracy, reinventing Federation and the administration of government. We will re-examine our rights as well as our responsibilities as citizens. "

Full post as published by Open and Shut on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).