Political funding in Australia is governed by different rules for state (some of which do not require disclosure) and federal governments. And both levels suffer significant weaknesses.
When we look at cases of police corruption and abuses, we must ask: who do the police really serve?
Heads of state at an African Union session in Addis Ababa. They have signed up to a plan that envisages strengthening institutions and governance.
EPA/Solan Kolli
If the governing ANC ignores the calls for Zuma’s resignation,it may undermine South Africa’s leadership on the continent. It creates the idea that he can undermine the constitution with impunity.
Political funding is a fundamental public trust matter. It deserves to be debated at COAG.
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Friday’s COAG meeting is a perfect opportunity for politicians to govern in the public interest: and that should start with reforming political donations.
The review of MPs’ entitlements was instigated following Bronwyn Bishop’s resignation from the speakership.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The principle underlying the ministerial standards is that ministers should uphold the public’s trust as they wield a great deal of power deriving from their public office.
Modern video technology can make matters public, but accountability still depends on political processes to produce just outcomes.
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Mobile video technology means outrageous behaviour and abuses can rapidly become public knowledge, but achieving just outcomes still depends on a political willingness to act on such knowledge.
The Australian Border Force is the culmination of the move towards militarised border security. This commenced in earnest with the introduction of Operation Sovereign Borders in September 2013.
The Abbott government has hid asylum policy behind ‘operational matters’ since it took office – starting with then-immigration minister Scott Morrison in 2013.
AAP/Paul Miller
The withholding of information about government actions in asylum seeker policy undermines its democratic accountability to the Australian people.
Tony Abbott opens the campaign office for Liberal candidate Ken Wyatt in 2010. Now he and all incumbent MPs enjoy a $300,000 advantage over their challengers at the next election.
AAP/Dean Lewins
‘Better Communities’ funding is supposedly non-partisan: every electorate gets $300,000 for local projects. But only incumbent MPs have a say in this spending and 60% of them are government members.
Notions of the ‘right to know’ forced Hillary Clinton to defend her use of a private email account as secretary of state - a far cry from the days when citizens didn’t even know how their representatives voted.
EPA/Andrew Gombert
The idea of the right to know as the ‘lifeblood of democracy’ is a surprisingly modern development. And in an age when transparency is prized, privacy and secrecy can still be justified in many cases.
In the Anthropocene, human-driven forces are shaping the planet in ways that may risk the collapse of human civilisation.
Damián Bakarcic/flickr
The Anthropocene, as an epoch of human-driven planetary change, poses huge environmental and political problems. But it could also force us to develop proper ecological and democratic accountability.
John Howard sealed his fate by going too far with WorkChoices, but he got the balance right and succeeded with the GST reform.
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
The distinction between the global and the local is collapsing under the pressure of climate change, economic restructuring, global migration and jihadism on the one hand and the populist and information…
Recent surveys have highlighted a deeper malaise in the public’s faith in its core institutions and leaders.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer points to an “evaporation of trust” in institutions and leaders worldwide. The annual survey finds a decline in trust overall, with more countries classified as distrusting…
Daniel Andrews and his ministers swear an oath to comply with the law, which includes the obligations of public office as a public trust.
AAP/Julian Smith
There cannot be a more important office or more challenging role than being a member of parliament. This is especially so for government MPs and ministers, including the newly elected Victorian ministry…
What are we voting for? Certainly not decisions made in MPs’ own interest or that of political parties or business cronies, but the present system lets that happen.
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
The Accountability Round Table (ART), a non-partisan organisation, wrote to the three major political parties two months ago seeking their position on three important arms of Victoria’s integrity system…
“Who do you trust?” has become a common mantra in Australian politics. Our political leaders should do much more to stop the answer being “no one”.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
A fundamental lack of trust is at the heart of Australian politicians’ extremely poor reputation. It is the main reason why people’s opinions about their elected representatives have mutated from healthy…
‘Freedom of religion’ does not provide a church with any more or less accountability for its actions than a trucking company.
AAP/Shepparton News/Verity Lewis
Some religious groups are feeling under attack. They claim their “freedom of religion” is being impaired. For example, federal Attorney-General George Brandis, speaking to the Law School of Notre Dame…
A recent Ombudsman’s report is damning of the Victorian criminal justice sector, particularly around issues of accountability and transparency.
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Victorian Ombudsman George Brouwer’s report on deaths and harm in Victorian prisons may have largely sailed under the public radar, but it shines a rare spotlight on the levels of systemic harm in custody…
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State
Research Director: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) research division, and Coordinator of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Human Sciences Research Council