by Emma | Jun 30, 2026 | Lobbying, News
The tax-deductible status many charities rely on was designed to encourage public benefit, not to discourage advocacy the government would rather not...
by jmsthornton | Jan 29, 2018 | Code of Conduct, Corruption, Lobbying
Ken Coghill, Accountability Round Table member, warns of risks to government integrity from the sharing of confidential government information of commercial interest by those who move from the government to the private sector. This article is reposted from The Age and...
by jmsthornton | Oct 9, 2016 | Corruption, Lobbying, Political Funding, Reforms
Marian Sawer is Emeritus Professor and Public Policy Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, ANU. She has contributed the following article to John Menadue’s “Pearls and Irritations” blog, giving a detailed analysis of...
by jmsthornton | Aug 19, 2016 | Code of Conduct, Federal Government, Fitzgerald Principles, Freedom of Information, Lobbying, News, Open Government Partnership (OGP), Public Trust, Queensland, Queensland Crime Commissions, Reforms
This paper, “Democracy at the Crossroads?” was delivered by Hon Tim Smith QC at the Cairn’s Tropical Writers Festival, 11 August 2016. In it, he sets out two broad principles to which members of parliament should adhere, The “Fitzgerald Principles” and The...
by jmsthornton | Apr 4, 2016 | Corruption, Federal Government, Lobbying, Political Funding, Reforms
Colleen Lewis makes a new contribution to the debate on the conflict of interest inherent in political donations, especially when those donations are made by big corporations and effectively hidden from scrutiny. “Political funding is a fundamental public...
by jmsthornton | Feb 2, 2016 | Corruption, IBAC, Lobbying, Public Trust, Reforms, Victoria, Victorian Government Integrity System Reform
Colleen Lewis argues in The Age that the Victorian government amendments to IBAC let Victorians down. This is so because IBAC will still fail to carry out the basic work of Anti-Corruption Commissions – to “shine the accountability spotlight on the...