No Credibility Without Transparency.

The Public Right To Know

When ministers say they got their information from an “ independent” source  (Casey Costello) and it is later revealed it was supplied by a lobby group (the tobacco industry) or they refuse to say which of their colleagues have declared a vested interest in projects labelled for Fast Tracking (Christopher Bishop), then there is a serious issue of both credibility and transparency that is already building a lack of trust in the current coalition government.

Ministers, like all of us, are influenced in our opinions  and beliefs by who we meet, what we read and who we listen to, so the source of the information a minister (or indeed Cabinet as a whole) has relied upon to reach a decision has be made publicly available, especially where some company or individual stands to make large profits from that decision.

When you add to the mix that whenever you ask an MP outside of Cabinet what they privately think about the implications of any particular, bill they will immediately refer you to the Minister or the party’s Official Spokesperson. In other words they bow to party policy which is another term for agreed group think.

So to say a minister left the room while a matter was being discussed in which they had a potential conflict of interest, down plays the fact that those who are left in the room know precisely what their colleague thinks and wants. (Especially if the person leaving the room is an influential member of a small coalition partner who you need to keep sweet if you want to say in power – isn’t that right Shane?)

For ministers to claim they are not influenced by lobbying or donations is a barefaced denial of something that simply does not pass the logic test.

If professional lobbying did not deliver results then why would companies spend a lot of money doing it?

If large party donations did not buy political influence then why would individuals and companies make them?

Two things would counter these wired in biases in our political system .

1.     Stricter transparency rules around cabinet decisions and sources of information.

2.     Greater support for independent fourth estate journalism.

Frankly I don’t see solution number 1 happening anytime soon.

As for solution Number 2, the current government has withdrawn all support for independent journalism, so now our broadcasters have such little appetite for it, that commentators such as myself now rely on subscriptions in order to keep speaking truth to power - so thank you, once again, for your support.