The Auditor-General's role in politics	posted: 20/03/2006
Author(s): Tony Harris (former NSW Auditor-General) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Incumbency benefits; - Audit paper download Paper delivered by former NSW Auditor-General Tony Harris to the Audit's Political Finance Workshop held at the ANU on February 25 2006.

Guaranteed Failure: it's just never the right time for funding reform	posted: 20/03/2006
Author(s): Andrew Murray (Australian Democrats Senator) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Incumbency benefits; - Audit paper download Paper delivered by Democrats Senator Andrew Murray to the Audit's Political Finance Workshop held at the ANU on February 25 2006.

Political Finance in Australia: a skewed and secret system?

posted: 20/03/2006

Author(s): Joo-Cheong Tham (University of Melbourne), Sally Young (University of Melbourne) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Incumbency benefits; - Audit paper download Australian and international political finance experts, electoral commissioners, former auditors-general and political party representatives gathered at the Australian National University to workshop the Draft Democratic Audit Report prepared by Joo-Cheong Tham and Sally Young on Saturday, February 25 2006. The Tham/Young Report is still a working draft that has benefited from the workshop process and is set to be a landmark publication on political finance in Australia. (700 kb PDF)

Government advertising - informational or self-promotional?    (published: 3/2006)	posted: 20/03/2006
Author(s): Graeme Orr (Griffith University) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Incumbency benefits; - Audit paper download Paper delivered by Dr Graeme Orr to the Audit's Political Finance Workshop held at the ANU on February 25 2006.

Donations to political parties in the United Kingdom    (published: 3/2006)	posted: 21/03/2006
Author(s): Keith Ewing (Kings College), Navraj Singh Ghaleigh (Edinburgh Law School) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Incumbency benefits; - Audit paper download Paper delivered by Keith Ewing and to the Audit's Political Finance Workshop held at the ANU on February 25 2006.

Relaxing the rules a recipe for growing voter cynicism

posted: 27/03/2006

Author(s): Norm Kelly (Australian National University) Category: Electoral; Political Finance/Govt Advertising; - Breaking news/external links http link The Howard Government's electoral reform legislation, shortly to be debated in Parliament, raises serious concerns about the undue influence that political donations have in our democracy. This article by Norm Kelly of the ANU appeared in The Canberra Times on March 27 2006.

Andren ‘grieves’ democracy	posted: 28/03/2006
Author(s): Peter Andren (Independent Federal MP for Calare) Category: Parliament; Political Finance/Govt Advertising; - Breaking news/external links download In a Grievance Debate, Peter Andren MP, independent member for Calare, lamented the lack of scrutiny and review of new legislation by Parliament. He singled out Government advertising for particular criticism. Link is to Hansard transcipt.

Senate Committee independence in question?

posted: 31/03/2006

Author(s): Category: Accountability; Parliament; - Breaking news/external links The independence of Senate committees has been called into question after Senator Judith Troeth, chair of the Senate Committee that inquired into the Government’s industrial relations legislation admitted that she discussed the findings of the Committee’s report with the office of Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, prior to publication. The revelation raises concerns about possible Government involvement in the committee process, and, consequently, the independence of their conclusions. No link

Proposed changes to electoral law

posted: 31/03/2006

Author(s): Category: Electoral; - Breaking news/external links http link Draft legislation bringing in substantial changes to electoral law were introduced into Parliament on 8 December 2005. The new measures will close the electoral roll on the day the writs are issued, will require new voters to produce identification and will remove the right of all prisoners to vote. Companies will be able to make donations of up to $10,000 without disclosure, and charities and campaigning organisations will be required to lodge annual disclosures with the Australian Electoral Commission. Senator Eric Abetz, Special Minister of State, has said that the measures are aimed at improving the integrity of the voting system, to reduce the possibility of fraud. Link has Hansard transcript.

Whistleblower protection inadequate

posted: 31/03/2006

Author(s): Category: Rights; Accountability; - Breaking news/external links http link In his report on Queensland’s public hospitals, former supreme court judge Geoff Davies claims that the Queensland Whistleblower Protection Act provides inadequate protection for public sector employees who expose malpractice. Protection is limited to those reporting malpractice to relevant public bodies but provides no protection for those who make disclosures to others, such as journalists or members of parliament. He recommends that complaints should be first made to the relevant government department, but, if there is no resolution within 30 days, protection for the complainant should be extended to allow disclosure to an MP.

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