Joining forces for freedom
YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW
IT’S wonderful to see the rival media groups joining forces for their press freedom campaign. What better way to express it than redacting the front pages of their newspapers ( Mercury, October 21).
Criminalising journalists and whistleblowers is common in totalitarian regimes and it is very concerning when we see the beginnings of it happening here. When intimidation leads to self censorship and results in public interest information never seeing the light of day we are heading down the slippery slope to a police state.
The loud noise of government propaganda can fill the vacuum as we saw with the lie of weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. More recently we saw the raids on the ABC over the Afghan Files and the prosecution of Witness K over Australian Government bugging incident in East Timor where they were acting on behalf of Woodside Petroleum for commercial gain.
Taxpayers have a right to know where and how the Government spends their money and it is the journalists’ job to expose corruption and mismanagement where they find it and to be able to protect their sources without interference.
Sterling job
THE Mercury newspaper along with other print media are continuing to do a sterling job foraging for and exposing information under their “Right to Know” campaign.
Paranoia aside, the question has to be asked as to why those in Government and positions of power feel the necessity for secrecy on so many issues that may be of concern to the people. For example, some major development is proposed — secret deals behind closed doors — then “hey presto” a release of information when it is too late for community comment or inclusion! This, and similar scenarios seem to happen with monotonous regularity.
So please keep up the good work Mercury et al, and continue to forage and uncover information that we have a “right to know”. We should be privy to all information from day one, not when it is a “fait accompli”, or worse still never sees the light of day!
Expose private sector
THE right to know campaign would be much more credible and effective if it included a similar set of demands on the private sector. More than 100 countries have enacted freedom of information legislation but exclude the private sector from their jurisdiction. It is the private sector and their decisions that dominates the economy and the lives of individuals and families in Australia and elsewhere. Indeed after 40 years of privatisation many areas that were previously government matters are now in corporate hands.
The reforms to freedom of information and related matters in regard to government are important and necessary. However, it is equally, actually in truth it is even more, important to establish legal rights and protections in regard to private sector information, processes and decision making if we really want to develop a more open and transparent economy, society and culture. Government in confidence is unacceptable but so also is business in confidence.
Secret society
ZIP your lip, bite your tongue
Information, give ’em none
Keep the lid on it, don’t let the cat out of the bag
We could lose the mation they had
Keep quiet, give nothing away
Don’t let em know what we’ve done today Keep it under your hat, just a wink and a nod Keep it away from the grimy, unwashed mob Deny it all, ignore, misdirect
Better still let’s just make it a secret.
Keep the lid on it and it won’t get around For heaven’s sake, when you need him, Where’s Dan Brown? election if this infor
Is this a free Australia?
THE continued secrecy by state and federal governments, especially in the nonrelease of completed inquiries of public interest, is reprehensible. We now see FOI requests and a clamp-down on journalists and whistleblowers trying to report on items of public interest, being attacked and threatened with legal action. Am I living in a free and democratic Australia or in Nazi Germany or in a totalitarian state like China? I need urgent answers please.
Expendable
THE racing industry celebrates horses during the spring racing carnival. When the carnival is over, racehorses are butchered. Like horses past their prime, battlers on Newstart are expendable, condemned to poverty, with limited housing. When did Australia become a cruel country?
Labor unelectable
I AGREE with Jacqui Lambie that federal Labor’s deal with the Government has robbed Tasmania of $52 million (Talking Point, October 18). Add this to state Labor’s support for coal mines in Tasmania and it has made it irrelevant. Both unwise decisions will make Labor unelectable for years.
Koala ad futile
WHAT is the point of the TV advert showing us the fate of koala bears? The developers won’t stop destroying their habitat, dogs won’t stop killing them and motorists won’t stop running them down.
Missing main man
IT was never likely that Australia would get past the quarter finals, the sacking of Israel Folau guaranteed it!
Britain ailing
GREAT Britain’s chronic outbreak of Brexititis is causing a deluge of Brexitears.