The Art seeks a public commitment from all parties to restore open, responsible and accountable government by
This is a list to be updated as we hear of new Parliamentary reform promises and suggestions from Parliamentarians and other political players.MAJOR donors to political parties in this federal election will be able to keep contributions secret for another 18 months under campaign finance laws that keep voters in the dark.
News
"At a time when there is much irritation about the functioning of the political process, in this lecture I want to canvass the difficulty of judging politicians through the lens of integrity because of the layers of responsibility they have and the complexity of many of the issues with which they have to deal. In any particular circumstance the answer to the question, what is the right thing to do, depends on judgements about what interest they are supposed to serve and what policy choices they actually have. How a person of integrity should act is dependent on the nature of the questions faced and in whose or what interest he or she should be acting. Where does the politician’s duty lie? " Fred Chaney FOR THE COMPLETE LECTURE, CLICK THE ATTACHMENT. YouTube Video of Fred Chaney's lecture |
|||
Vic election 2010 Party promises to ART.
We have replies to date from the Greens, the National Party and as of 17th November 2010, the Labor Party. On 19th November the Liberal Party added to the National's response. On 22nd November we received a backgrounder on the Liberals proposed IBAC, attached. |
|||
13th Annual Hawke Lecture
|
|||
"Campaign Funding Back on the Agenda" - Peter Mares interviews new Special Minister of State, Gary Gray. 24 September 2010 |
|||
As a response to the NSW Joint Standing Committee on Election Reform report, the NSW Labor Government has moved to introduce caps to election spending and donations. From The Australian Keneally to cap political donationsImre Salusinszky. From: The Australian September 21, 2010 THE NSW government will jump the gun on the commonwealth and other states and introduce caps on donations and campaign spending. The laws cover donations from individuals and corporations, along with affiliation fees from unions and similar organisations, and are the first of their kind in Australia. But they do not go as far as recommended in a recent parliamentary report, setting the limit on donations to political parties at $5000 each year, rather than $2000 as suggested. Campaign spending will be capped at $100,000 per candidate, plus $100,000 per electorate by political parties. |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
How are the major parties proposing to enhance Parliamentary integrity and accountability?We have Election 2010 responses from Greens, Coalition and Labor. Read on...OUR QUESTION 1Do you support a comprehensive independent integrity system for the Commonwealth incorporating a general purpose Commonwealth anti-corruption agency, which includes educative, research and policy functions and which is provided with all necessary powers and is subject to parliamentary oversight? OUR QUESTION 2Do you support an enquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission into regulation of the funding of political parties and candidates to achieve equality of access and integrity in our democratic system? PARTIES & CANDIDATES COMMITMENTS |
|||
Law Council's poll of Major Party's electoral positions on key legal issues (Includes Legislatiive Standards reform)In July 2010, the Law Council of Australia invited major political parties contesting the 2010 Federal Election to provide their views on key national issues of relevance to the Australian legal profession. |
|||
ACCOUNTABILITY ROUND TABLE CALLS FOR ACTION ON POLITICAL CORRUPTION, DONATIONS
2. an enquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission into regulation of the funding of political parties and candidates to achieve equality of access and integrity in our democratic system. |
|||
ELECTION 2010 PROMISES ON TRANSPARENCY AND INTEGRITYLabor PartyNo new announcements we can find, but the National platform 2009 chapter on governance is downloadable here Download Article... Chapter 11 - New ways of governing for a stronger democracyIncludes... |
|||
 Melbourne Law School academic and political funding expert Dr. Joo-Cheong Tham will launch his new book “Money and Politics: The Democracy We Can’t Afford” with a panel discussion on the challenges posed by money in Australian politics on Tuesday 3 August. Speaking ahead of the launch, Dr Tham said that voters didn't have to look far to see how money has ‘distorted and disfigured’ Australia’s democracy.
“The big mining companies have shown us the political power of corporate wealth” he says. “As a group it was reported they put aside $100 million for their ads against the proposed ‘Super Profits Tax’, with up to $2 million being spent each week to run the ads.”
Dr Tham’s book tackles the controversial role money plays in Australian politics and the fear that political power resides with only a few rich and powerful citizens and corporations.
|
|||
Federal Election 2010 | Live election leaflet monitoring 21 July 2010 is a new website dedicated to monitoring the content of election leaflets. The site encourages people to upload pictures of election leaflets circulated in their electorate. Another way of keeping Parliament and Parliamentarians honest. |
|||
|
|||
Buying influence at the expense of public confidenceJune 21, 2010
Political donations will always arouse suspicion. POLITICAL parties are also businesses: they have to be. But is it the business of politicians to solicit and accept substantial donations to party funds, especially when such gifts could be seen as potential buying-of-influence - or, to put it bluntly, a form of bribery in hope of future services rendered? Such conclusions, while perhaps simplistic, are inevitably drawn whenever or wherever the subject of party politics and corporate largesse arises. Accountability Round Table member The Hon Dr Ken Coghill gets a mention. |
|||
ABC RN National Interest 18 June 2010 report on Parliamentary Integrity Awards: listen on - http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/06/nit_20100618_1810.mp3 |
|||
The Age June 15, 2010 Australia's politicians are perceived as disconnected from the concerns of the people, and politics is all about gaining and maintaining power, former High Court chief justice Sir Anthony Mason says. In a stinging critique of contemporary Australian politics, he said there was also a prevailing and unrealistic expectation that government could solve everybody's problems. Sir Anthony said surveys indicated many Australians would give a depressing verdict on the integrity, humanity and efficiency of the Australian political system. |
|||
|
|||
Ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured, if a little apprehensive to receive this award.
I am deeply honoured that the Accountability Roundtable has considered me to be an appropriate choice for the Alan Missen Award for 2010. What Alan Missen did spanned decades, beginning with his opposition to the Menzies’ government’s referendum proposal to ban the Communist Party. When one considers this, and Alan’s record of independence and achievement in the Senate, then one can only conclude that the Roundtable has been generous in its choice for the inaugural Missen award. |
|||
Sir Anthony Mason, Tim Smith, Members of the Accountability Roundtable, parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.
|
|||
"The popular image of the political process would be enhanced if the ideals of openness and accountability were pursued, if relevant information was made available in timely fashion to the public and if our representatives gave us the bad news as well as the good news. People would react favourably if they felt that they could rely on the accuracy of political statements. Unreliability of statements by politicians and &ldquo
ABC News Online Posted Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:35am AEST Defence Minister John Faulkner and Liberal backbencher Petro Georgiou have been honoured at the inaugural Parliamentary Integrity Awards. The Accountability Round Table - which includes academics, politicians and lawyers - set up the awards to honour honesty and transparency in politics. |
|||
Sydney Morning Herald June 15, 2010 - 9:14PM The Age June 15, 2010 Bigpond News Wednesday, June 16, 2010 » 06:52am Business Spectator 9:28 PM, 15 Jun 2010 Herald Sun June 16, 2010 June 16, 2010 |
|||
June 15 2010 PETRO GEORGIOU AND JOHN FAULKNER ANNOUNCED WINNERS OF INAUGURAL PARLIAMENTARY INTEGRITY AWARDS Most attempts to improve political behaviour are based on negative consequences, curbing excesses by regulation and sanction. The Accountability Round Table awards are an endeavour to reward good parliamentary behaviour and recognise integrity rather than simply penalising the absence of it. On Tuesday 15th June, at Parliament House Canberra, the two inaugural awards were made. |
|||
The public picture of politicians rarely includes those politicians who conduct themselves with integrity, respecting the need for honest, open and accountable government. In addition, there is no public recognition of their integrity and no system to reward or encourage such integrity. The “Parliamentary Integrity Awards” are intended to fill that gap. |
|||
|
|||
The unkindest cut
|
|||
Fabian First Wednesday Forum
The Victorian Government PAEC is calling for tenders for a review of the Victorian Auditor General's Office. Victorian Auditor-General's Office - Financial Audit 2010 Victorian Auditor-General's Office - Performance Audit 2010 |
|||
31 March 2010
Parliament of New South Wales Final Report: Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Public funding of Election CampaignsIncludes reccommendations and findings on; Caps and bans on donations |
|||
23 March 2010
The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters tabled its Report on the 2007 Federal Election - Events in the Division of Lindsay The 2007 federal election was tarnished by the events in the |
|||
Thursday 18 March 2010
|
|||
Government announces whistleblower protection scheme
|
Swan song for former corruption fighter| Source: | Stateline Victoria |
|---|---|
| Published: | Friday, March 12, 2010 12:00 AEDT |
| Expires: |
Thursday, June 10, 2010 12:00 AEDT |
The head of one of Australia's most famous corruption inquiries, Tony Fitzgerald, laments the lack of political accountability in modern Australian politics.
JOSEPHINE CAFAGNA, PRESENTER: I spoke with Tony Fitzgerald in what he says is his last interview.
Tony Fitzgerald, thank you for coming onto Stateline
TONY FITZGERALD, FORMER ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSIONER: A pleasure, thank you.
JOSEPHINE CAFAGNA: Why has this been your swansong?
Madden hijacks inquiry
|
|||||||||
Simon Lauder reported this story on Thursday, March 11, 2010 17:14:00 MARK COLVIN: The former anti-corruption royal commissioner and judge, Tony Fitzgerald, has made what he says will be his last commentary on the state of government in Australia. And it was damning. Mr Fitzgerald says the prevailing political culture is amoral, anarchic, controlled by money and lacking in ethics, oversight and accountability. He says too many politicians are motivated by power rather than public interest and there's too much government by executive. In short, Mr Fitzgerald says, our democracy is not broken but bent. He delivered his assessment while launching an initiative of the Accountability Round Table, designed to reward politicians for honour and integrity. |
|||
Much as I dislike speaking on public occasions, it’s a privilege & pleasure to be here this morning with my colleague of many years, the Hon. Tim Smith QC, & his distinguished associates at the Accountability Round Table including, in random order, the Hon. Race Matthews, the Hon. Ken Coghill, the Hon. Alan Hunt, Professor David Yencken, Ms Julia Thornton, Ms Prue Innes, Mr Bruce Grant & Mr Barry Everingham. Tim & I first met almost 30 years ago as part-time Australian Law Reform Commissioners. Since then, he’s had an illustrious career as barrister & Supreme Court judge while I’ve periodically re-discovered how easy it is to attract unwanted controversy. I hope to avoid that today in this, my swansong, by noting that my comments are not directed to individual politicians, a specific political party or politics in a particular State & my opinions are simply those of an extremely fallible aging private citizen with children & grandchildren who is interested in Australia’s future. |
|||
|
|||
Laurie Oakes From: Herald Sun March 06, 2010 12:00AM
A HUGE television audience will watch the Academy Awards as Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney and the rest compete for those little golden statuettes. A new awards contest to be launched in Australia a few days later will not arouse quite the same interest, but it deserves attention just the same. Instead of the Oscars, we're about to get the Buttons and the Missens. |
|||
It promises to strengthen our democracy through the power of transparency and to promote the nation's international standing and economy. It also proposes to draw attention to these changes through the creation of Iceland's first internationally visible prize: the Icelandic Prize for Freedom of Expression. |
|||
Thursday 25 February 2010, The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters tabled its report on the inquiry into the NSW Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Amendment (Automatic Enrolment) Bill 2009 entitled Inquiry into the implications of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Amendment (Automatic Enrolment) Act 2009 (NSW) for the conduct of Commonwealth elections. The two provisions of the Bill on which the Committee reported potential Commonwealth electoral effects were Automatic enrolment provisions and Provisions enabling eligible persons to enrol and cast a provisional |
|||
Open government is Rudd's aimJOE LUDWIGJanuary 21, 2010 As the minister responsible for information policy, I welcome public scrutiny of government activity. Many governments around the world are embracing a new era of government openness. Image:
 |
|||
A geospatial visualisation of lobby networks LobbyLens correlates data about Federal Government business. It shows the connections between government contracts, business details, politician responsiblities, lobbyists, clients of lobbyists and the location of these entities. |
|||
|
|||
Mellbourne University Law School for further details Inaugural Frank Costigan Oration 2009 The Hon. John Cain presents: Date: 18 November 2009 |
|||
Tuesday 20th October 2009 The media complain that FOI legislation is weighed way too heavily in favour of government and commercial interests. In Victoria, where FOI legislation began, you cannot get information about how many times a restaurant has been served with a health notice. The Law Report - http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lawreport/ Audio - http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2009/10/lrt_20091020_0830.mp3 |
|||
11 October 2009 |
|||
October 11, 2009 Sydney Morning Herald Pyne calls for reform of Question Time Time limits should be introduced for questions and answers in federal parliament to stop the government behaving like kids who've broken into a lolly shop, says Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne. |
|||
16 August 2009 Controlling Political Donations - Democratic Audit's Brian Costar on ''Meet the Press' The problems of buying access and influence. Hear Prof Brian Costar discussing Federal disclosure reforms, the Queensland reforms and the scandal in Canada that led to their reform. (Unfortunately you have to watch an ad first!) Video available here ten.com.au/video-player.htm |
|||
19 September 2008 |
|||
September 2009
November 2006
July 2007 
