Parallel 'open government' worlds on display

Attorney General Brandis, Senate Estimates:"The government is committed to transparency and openness.." 

(Addendum: For completeness,from Coalition Election Policy 2013:
"Encouraging Australians to Work Together: “The Coalition will do the right thing for Australia and deliver a strong, stable, accountable government that puts the national interest first and delivers a better future for all Australians. We will restore accountability and improve transparency measures to be more accountable to you. We will govern for all Australians, not favour any particular group. We’re all in this together and we’ll encourage all Australians to work together..”)

Emeritus Professor) Rodney Tiffen Inside Story: "The Abbott government's war on transparency." (Even this long list of valid reasons for concern isn't the complete picture.The planned abolition of the Office of Australian Information Commissioner not only will impact on FOI merit review as mentioned, it will remove the independent monitor and open government leadership functions from the picture as culture change veers sharply back in the wrong direction.Then there's the 'no we haven't decided to join or withdraw the Labor government's notice of intention to join' the Open Government Partnership; the government's 'poor' record in responding to Senate orders to produce documents according to the polite people who produce the Senate Procedural Information Bulletin even if things have now taken a turn for the better; and plenty of other inventive/creative FOI knockbacks to add to the couple cited in this article, a number from the Attorney General's Department set to become from 1 January the lead agency for 'guidance' on the interpretation and application of the act.)

Oh dear....

moves to reduce public transparency and public knowledge - See more at: http://inside.org.au/the-abbott-governments-war-on-transparency/#sthash.bZqtzx1A.dpuf

of decisions that mean public scrutiny of its policies and their implementation is more difficult. - See more at: http://inside.org.au/the-abbott-governments-war-on-transparency/#sthash.STSYw73M.dpuf

the government has made a series of decisions that mean public scrutiny of its policies and their implementation is more difficult. - See more at: http://inside.org.au/the-abbott-governments-war-on-transparency/#sthash.STSYw73M.dpuf

the government has made a series of decisions that mean public scrutiny of its policies and their implementation is more difficult. - See more at: http://inside.org.au/the-abbott-governments-war-on-transparency/#sthash.STSYw73M.dpuf