SIGN THE PETITION: Transparency in government!
Australia is becoming increasingly secretive. Our Freedom of Information (FOI) system is broken. Whistleblowers are being imprisoned. Government oversight mechanisms are being ignored.
Transparency is essential to democracy. It promotes trust in government and holds our elected officials to account. It’s how we prevent corruption – or uncover it.
But despite promises to fix our broken FOI system and better protect whistleblowers, the Albanese Government has continued the Coalition’s shameful legacy of secrecy.
We know what needs to change. Together, we call on the Albanese Government to:
- Stop the war on whistleblowers: drop the prosecutions and reform the laws
- Fix the broken Freedom of Information (FOI) system
- Promote transparency in government operations at every level
✍️Add your name to the petition calling on the Australian Government to commit to greater transparency!
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While in opposition, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for an end to Australia's "culture of secrecy", instead promising to "Protect whistleblowers" and "Reform freedom of information laws so they can’t be flouted by government."
However, five years later and he has been labelled as "more secretive than Morrison" by anti-corruption organisations and the Parliamentary crossbench. And it's not hard to see why.
The Albanese Government has continued the prosecution of whistleblowers, like David McBride and Richard Boyle. In May, war crimes whistleblower David McBride was imprisoned for years – something Albanese could have stopped. His government has failed to reform Australia's broken whistleblower protection laws, despite promising to when in opposition. This is despite the protection of whistleblowers being key to uncovering government and corporate misconduct.
Australia's Freedom of Information (FOI) system is similarly broken, after years of underfunding and chronic backlogs. Instead of improving under Albanese, the pro-secrecy culture within our government departments has continued.
The Albanese Government has also refused to answer thousands of questions on notice from the Senate, a key tool to ensuring the Senate has access to information on government policy and programs. Senate orders to produce government documents – another crucial process for parliamentary transparency – has also declined in efficacy due to the current government's use of spurious claims to deny access and oversight.
These are all just the most visible examples of a culture of secrecy that has flourished under the current government, despite their promises to promote transparency while in office.
We're fighting for that to change.
Calls for greater transparency are growing both in and out of parliament in the lead up to the next election. Together, we can show the federal government – whoever is in power - that transparency cannot just be a call from opposition benches.
✍️Can you sign the petition demanding an end to the culture of secrecy in Australian government?