Page 3447 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 17 August 2011
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But that is not to say that we should simply rest on our laurels. Too often governments and parliaments turn their minds to probity and integrity in public life only in response to a clear failing outlined in things such as a royal commission or a judicial inquiry. The government believe that the fundamental issues of integrity and probity are of sufficient importance that we should return to them and reinvigorate them before there is an event that forces us to. The government are prepared to look beyond the short term to reassure ourselves and reassure the community that the foundations of our system of government are sound and are appropriately adapted to the needs and demands of governing the city-state.
Mr Speaker, the government remains committed to ensuring that the highest standards of openness, accountability, probity and integrity are the foundation of all that we do. It was, for example, at our initiative that the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights became the foundation stone of all law in the ACT through the Human Rights Act 2004. Further, the adoption of the Latimer House principles by the Assembly as a continuing resolution flowed from the agreement set out in our parliamentary agreement with the Greens.
Mr Speaker, the government is committed to enhancing openness, transparency and accountability in the ACT’s system of government. One of my first statements in this place as Chief Minister was to outline a program founded on the principle of open government. I said at the time that open government rests on three principles: transparency in processing information, participation by citizens in the governing process and public collaboration in finding solutions to problems and participation in the improved wellbeing of the community.
Open government refers to a way of working. It is a way of managing information and of participation and collaboration that enhances democracy as it places the community at the centre of governance. We have already demonstrated our commitment to open government through recent innovations such as the publishing of weekly cabinet outcomes.
That started off well, I think, with over 700 hits on the cabinet outcomes report in the first week. I think it declined to about 250 in the second week. By the third week it was struggling at about 76. Once you take all the journalists and perhaps all of us out of the place, I am not sure how many people at the moment are reading them but we are going to keep going in the hope that people will see the importance of having that information out there and trying to involve them in that work earlier.
Work is continuing on the open government website and it will be available in accordance with the timetable that I outlined in June. The government are well advanced in progressing much of the body of work referred to in Ms Hunter’s motion. The government response to the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety’s report into the FOI act is proposed to be tabled in the Assembly next week. We have said much about public interest disclosure already and I do not propose to revisit that debate except to remind members that I have asked the Head of Service to expedite work on a new bill to update the current laws in light of recent commentary and reform in this area.
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