Friday, 31 July 2009

A Letter from Anna Bligh to Peter Tabulo, Acting CEO Cairns Regional Council

Statement of Right to Information Principles for the Queensland Public Service

"Information is the lifeblood of democracy. To reach its full potential, a State like Queensland needs citizens who are informed and a government that is open and responsive.

My Government firmly believes that making more information available to the community contributes to informed and useful debate on issues. The free flow of information enables the public to genuinely engage with government in the policy development processes, as well as going some way towards helping the public to better understand how government works.

The Right to Information reforms are about a better way for a modern Queensland public sector to do business and to get the best results for Queensland.


At the heart of these reforms will be a public service that conducts itself in the most open and transparent way possible, because that openness and transparency are fundamental to good government.

The processes of government should operate on a presumption of disclosure, with a clear regard for the public interest in accessing government information. The Queensland public service should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation to carry out their work based on this presumption.

Government information must be valued as a public resource that contributes to an open and participatory democracy and improves government decision-making.

It is the Queensland Government’s expectation that the Queensland public service recognises and respects that Government is the custodian of information that belongs to the community, and will:

  • Maximise the public’s access to government information by administratively releasing information where ever possible, so that recourse to the Right to Information Act 2009 and Information Privacy Act 2009 is a matter of last resort.
  • Recognise, respect and maintain the community’s trust in government to appropriately and securely collect, store and use their personal information.
  • Act to process requests for information rapidly and fairly, rendering all possible assistance to the community in responding to their requests for information.
  • Continually improve systems, processes and skills to maximise access to government information and the protection of personal information.
  • Use innovative ways to ensure information is available to all sectors of the community.

These reforms are a significant step forward in public administration in Queensland. I thank you for your assistance in the implementation of the new legislation.


32 comments:

Thaddeus said...

So does this mean we can all see the full unedited Henry Report?...Yeah, right.

Sirius said...

Could you please advise if this was a standard letter to all public sector bodies in Queensland or a specific reminder for Cairns Regional Council?

Thanks

Sir Humphrey said...

oh please Anna - innovative ways. How about just telling people what happened. It would be a novel approach.In my old job I would admire the level of subterfuge that the current state (and therefore councils) operate under. It is a level of corruption and disinformation that would have made Kruschev proud.

I Am The Stig said...

It is rather timely that Anna comes out with this right in line with the unofficial Fitzgerald Report Mark2 where he has implicated Queensland is still very much the corrupt State. There are already developers saying they have not played ball with these lobbyists and as a result lost out on support from the Government. We have already seen a company The Trinity Group with former Treasurer Keith De Lacey as Chairman implicated in payments to Lobbyists on behalf of the Labour Party in return for Government Funding www.afr.com.au and punch in Trinity Group in the search section. Watch this space as there will be a number of casualties with even Peter Beattie looking concerned.

Anonymous said...

If this is a direct letter to Peter and not just a mechanical release to all in the public sector then the stakes have been seriously raised.
I for one would get the document framed and hang it in the pool room next to all my other trophies.

nocturnal congress said...

Frankly, it wouldn't even muster as s***t paper to wipe your backside on.

rorschach said...

this is a media release. distributed across the state.

it is not a letter addressed to tabulo

Clifton Ratbags Rule said...

IF this is the new legislation, why has Tabulo refused to even respond to my request for both the reports?

Sir Humphrey said...

" Mr Rowe is also chairman of Rothschilds, the bank recently named as lead adviser on the planned $15 billion state government asset sales program."
(quote from courier mail)
say no more these incompetent cretins are selling our legacy to the biggest bunch of international conmen going - the rothschilds!! wakey wakey queensland

nocturnal congress said...

Is that right Sir Humphrey!!!!!!! I had no idea...Jesus bloody Christ, selling off OUR assets to those scumbag scoundrels who are currently bleeding the American taxpayer dry.

Sir Humphrey said...

Yes nocturnal, to the bloody banksters! bastards could not lie straight in bed!

Remember he of the cheshire grin and sales of our water assets ?? ringing any bells? There is a seriously scary rip off going on here and people really need to realise these half witted Labour dunces are playing with our assets and people who are just running rings around them

Sir Humphrey said...

If you have read your Huxley "epsilon semi-moron" covers our current state government nicely

Quien Sabe said...

Sirius & rorschach,

This was from an email to every member of one of the larger Government Departments. One presumes that the Premier wished to make the Governments attitude to the "ownership" of "public" information clear.

My interpretation of the policy is that, unless there are issues of "individual" privacy, (eg medical, legal)confidentiality, then any matters relating to "operational" Governmental (be they State or Local) issues are , or should be, subject to our "Rights to Information" as per the Act and the Premier' statement.

B.S. Whitworth-Socket said...

Yeah, so that puts Anna in the clear. She has told them all to hand out information. Washed her hands of responsiblity for the Fiefdom of Information that pervades all levels of government in Qld. Tony Fitzgerald is right, we are well on the way back to Joh days, and the veil of FOI secrecy is what allows it to happen.

nocturnal congress said...

Well, I don't know enough about the global financial crisis..but I do know that we have seen the worst criminal activity in high finance EVER, and that no-one seems to know how to unravel it.
The de-regulation of banks and the financialization of the American economy have caused open slather criminal activity across the world.
From what I have read, the Rothschild banking empire is involved, but how and to what extent, I haven't any bloody idea.
What are we getting ourselves into?

Thaddeus said...

Why is the Queensland Government kow-towing to the dictates of these "Credit Ratings" given by dubious global corporations? Who runs this State anyway???

Sir Humphrey said...

Dear Nocturnal and Thaddeus,

I hear what you are saying - what on earth are we doing flogging our assets to "keep up with the jones's" in the global marketplace!! and when are we please just going to realise that governments are an expense - They take taxes and should be building things!! They are not there to try and make a profit and I firmly believe quite a few of the more ridiculous activities of governemnts in this country are caused by the fact they attempt to operate like a business. Its ludicrous, look what P&L is doing to Hospitals in this state!

I Am The Stig said...

Very well said Sir Humphrey. I well remeber as a young lad a political lesson from an old guy in a Pub in Sydney CIRCA 1972. "what's your politics son?" "I haven't really decided but my Dad votes Labour" "Take my advice under Labour they spend it all and you never have a quid in your pocket, they are always corrupt but under the Liberals you will have a quid in your pocket and be able to build for when those Labour idiots get back into power"
What a wise and clever guy who I always quote and history has proven itself he was right.

Syd Walker said...

Thaddeus asks an important question:

"Why is the Queensland Government kowtowing to the dictates of these "Credit Ratings" given by dubious global corporations? Who runs this State anyway???"

I think it would be fair to say that every government in Australia has done this, for at least a generation.

The 'enforcers' of this racket include the economic Punditocracy and the great bulk of the mass media, esp News Corp. Any Prime Minister/Premier with other ideas would soon find themselves on the nose, like Whitlam or Jack Lang.

This is a racket, of course. It's run by crooks, of course. Since 2007, the global public estimate of the credibility of the major credit rating agencies should put them around zero on a scale of 1-10. Yet the pundits recite their latest 'ratings' as though nothing has changed. Remarkable, when you think about it, that they can count on the populace as a whole being so stupid as to let this pass unremarked.

It's as though the entire Priesthood glided past on a float, dropped their pants, then moved on down the procession.

No-one in the crowd says a thing.

Thaddeus said...

So Anna Bligh insists she needs to sell off State Assets to maintain a "AAA" Credit Rating, doled out by these dubious agencies. Governments surrender up their sovereignity to a dubious cartel of global crooked financiers, so that they can "borrow" from the same cartel of crooked financiers.
Looking into the issue, it is obvious that democratic government
is being challenged.
And no, I wouldn't say this action of kow-towing to the "credit rating agencies" is a Labor folly, the LNP are doing it too.

Sir Humphrey said...

Dear Syd and Thaddeus,

Hear hear - and what a bloody racket it is! you pay for the privilege of some gone broke conmen to make you feel bad by mouthing recycled platitudes off the global media cornflakes packet!! - preposterous nonsense.

The true wealth of Queensland is vast BUT we must ensure that it is not frittered away chasing our tail on this credit hamster wheel. Government has a mandate to govern but who gave them the right to mortgage??

Alison Alloway said...

This is probably the most serious issue being discussed in "cairnsblog". I, too, am alarmed at the threat to democratic sovereignity and governance posed by these "Credit Rating Agencies." Why have Governments permitted them to have so much influence over our way of life?

Sir Humphrey said...

Dear Alison,

I think one has to look behind the agencies - who are only reporting lackeys - to the true string pullers. To give you a clue my view on recent events was we should have let all the banks crash and actually die. I bet we will look back and regret that all we have done is given them our money (government loans) to lose once again. But what will we mortgage for the next one - our freedom?

Cairns Media Watch said...

Michael Moore's blog is descending into the land of martians, Area 51, and the Trilateral Commission. Intelligent discourse (what minimal there was) is gone now, instead being replaced by the drug-addled minds of the hippie-yippie-zippy generation.

Syd Walker said...

Is 'Cairns Media Watch' the Wizard of Oz? Or is it just Bryan Law under a new name?

I notice he, she or it is alarmed that debate on CairnsBlog is fast getting seriously out of hand:

Wicked Witch of the West: You cursed brat! Look what you've done! I'm melting! melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness? Oooooh, look out! I'm going! Oooooh! Ooooooh!

Wizard of Oz: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.


But seriously folks, where has Bryan Law gone since his latest childish attempt to defame me on this blog? (I gave him a chance to deny its authenticity - or apologize - but he seems to be far too busy...)

Perhaps he's in church praying for an end to free speech and Open Debate?

Is he writing to his favourite 'liberal' rabbi to ask what to do next?

Or working out his next fatuous attempt to gain easy publicity by tilting at vaguely beside-the-point windmills?

If Bryan ever gets his head out of his butt for long enough to view something else the Wizard would hate us all to see, I suggest he watches four African-American peace activists discussing their recent trip to Gaza: see this link

Lillian at Yorkeys said...

Erm - we started off talking about transparency - Qld - Anna's missive etc.
However I must ask why anti-Semitism seems to pervade into quite a few Blog discussions? Someone further up this entry started banging on about Rothschild's bank being behind the GFC - folks it was all banks, all those greedy little-willied would-be power-mongers, whether circumcised or not! Anyone investigated what the Banco Ambrosio (ie. the Vatican Bank) has been doing all these months? Have a look. It's not a Jewish/money thing, it's money & greed per se - and a lot of stupidity from the punters on the ground who've credit carded & leveraged themselves to the hilt.
Anyway - back to transparency & Anna B - regarding the Fed Govt's BER "Building the Education Revolution" programme to upgrade schools all over Oz & stimulate the economy, which some school principals have nicknamed the 'Bloody Evil Revolution'.
The programme, administered until Gillard's dept, is making a right balls-up of distributing the money, many examples of: wanting a library, but being allocated a gym; or schools scheduled to close this or next year being allocated vast sums for a new playground etc. A wise principal in NSW has challenged all this & got a library rather than a (second) gym offered to them. Yay, one for reason.
However, it says in the article a Queensland principal could not speak about the issue due to "a new Queensland education department directive gagging principals from speaking to the media (p. 6)". So much for transparency.
There is so much spin going on in this State, it's mind-boggling. It's all being run by Briso power-mongers, & local MPs are in effect silenced if their opinions go against what Briso sees fit to deem as policy direction.
This became blatantly evident during the Cairns Yacht Club issue - not one of the 4 Labor members here in FNQ (Boyle, Wettenhall, O'Brien or Pitt (Warren), despite being in close proximity to the issue [literally] were prepared to put their hand up to represent the wishes of at least 11,000 citizens who wanted to retain the old Yacht Club.
Again - with Council amalgamations, council's protesting their forced amalgamation were literally legally prevented from taking any action (by Beattie). It was a case of 'put up & shut up'. Is there to be a review of the effect the amalgamations have had, or any silly/stupid boundaries imposed by the Briso Bureaucrats. Not on your Nelly. No, why would a responsible govt undertake a huge geographical, fiscal and social upheaval (ie. amalgamation( & then review it? Puhhhleease.
This of course is not just a Qld Labor thing - it goes on everywhere, but we in particular suffer as there is no Senate in Qld. This is likely to continue on whether Lab or LNP is in power in Qld - it's just too tempting for the incumbent govt to whip up a few (more) gerrymanders to stay in power. And tough nuts for the goodly citizens, who pay their wages.
I think I'd better go & have another cuppa & a good lie down. I'm SOOOO over all this bloody bureaucratic nightmare.

John, Kuranda said...

In part I agree with the comments regarding the credit ratings agencies. But it’s not a case of the Queensland government kowtowing to Moody’s etc.

The reality is that the Queensland Labor government has racked up $85 billion in debt. It is of course not interest free; debt as we all know comes at a price.

Just as we all need to fill in a credit application that assesses our debt worthiness before being considered for a housing loan or a credit card, so to do all governments. The people with the money to lend set their processes for determining the amount of interest they will charge a client. And this is where the credit ratings become important. A lessening of the sovereign credit rating (term applied to governments) means a higher rate of interest being charge to cover an increase likelihood of default. This same principle is applied to us all in our daily lives. That is why credit cards have such high rates.

Looking at the $85 billion in debt again. A change of 25 basis points (or 0.25%) in the in the interest rate means an extra $580,000 PER DAY or $212million per year that Queenslanders must pay in interest. And that is not even talking about paying back any of the original $85 billion.

Which is why any sane government and/or political party; including the LNP, puts such great store in getting the sovereign ratings up, the interest rate down, less money going offshore with the outcome of more money available to run the state of Queensland; to build hospitals, improve the roads, education etc.

Irrespective of out thought on Moody's etc, Anna Bligh and her increasing on the nose cohort of backroom brothers cannot tell them to "bugger off" - they need the money to stave of OUR collective bankruptcy.

As an aside, if I don’t pay the balance on my MasterCard each month the NAB charges interest at an annual rate of 19.74%. If the $85 billion were borrowed at this rate, the daily interest charge would be almost $46 million PER DAY. As a Queenslander I suppose I should be grateful that Labor’s debt has not been borrowed at the NAB rates!

Bryan Law said...

Syd the anti-Yid said "Perhaps [Bryan]'s in church praying for an end to free speech and Open Debate?" Close Syd but no cigar.

I'm praying for informed debate.

The reason I snipe at you is because you write the most ignorant and churlish dribble about Wild Rivers and Noel Pearson. From what I can see it's based on no content or information at all and - to the extent that anyone listens to you - it's most unhelpful.

Therefore I remind people of the quality of your thinking generally, and extend the opinion that anyone who dribbles on about zionism and false flag conspiracies is not likely to be thinking too clearly about anything.

The indigenous campaign "giveusago.com" has called for indigenous consent as a vital component of enacting land use regimes on Aboriginal land.

Tell me Syd, d'ya reckon that's a good idea? Or not?

Syd Walker said...

Bryan

Your behaviour in our recent exchanges has helped me better understand much better than before why so many of our mutual associates - people who know you better than I - can't stand you.

I doubt I'll debate you much if at all in future. I avoid witless, spiteful people whenever possible.

I may ignore you if you continue to defame me with repulsive and untruie jibes, but don't count on it. I reserve the right to use all legal non-violent means to cause you grief if you persist.

Bryan Law said...

Bryan asked Syd 'The indigenous campaign "giveusago.com" has called for indigenous consent as a vital component of enacting land use regimes on Aboriginal land. Tell me Syd, d'ya reckon that's a good idea? Or not?'

Syd replies that he'll be avoiding debate in future. What a surprise.

Syd Walker said...

John

I appreciate the point that bigger State debt means higher interest payments. But there's more to be said than treating the whole thing like a natural law and moving on.

First, the credit agencies, as far as I can tell, have never been subjected to congressional or parliamentary scrutiny since the debacle of 2007 when their own cridbility was shattered.

These agencies play a role partly akin to referees. But some of the most powerful agencies have shown themselves to be utterly untrustworthy. This is a problem on a higher level that cannot be solved by Queensland - or Australia - on our own. But it still needs a solution and Australian politicians could be calling for it (they aren't, as far as I can see).

The referees of the global markets are either crooked, incompetent or both. It's a very big problem that does need fixing, IMO.

Second, looking back at the last century's history there's no reason in principle or by lack of precedent why Governments need to BORROW money from PRIVATE BANKS to raise cash. They can issue it directly.

This approach is discussed by modern 'social credit' proponents such Richard Cook and Ellen Brown. California - which is in FAR worse debt than Queensland may eventually be forced to look at solutions along these lines. It wouldn't be the first time in history...

Of course, there are issues about controlling inflation if this approach is adopted. Of course, simplistic solutions to economic problems are common and rarely useful.

But Brown, Cook and others ask the obvious question: why should banks should be permitted a monopoly over the creation of money?

When that debate takes place on the ABC (it never does), you'll know a real change is on the way. It was deftly side-stepped, needless to say, in Nial Ferguson's recent 'Ascent of Money' (shown on 'Our' ABC). But that's what one might expect, given Ferguson's connections.

Another litmus test for change, IMO, would be the ascent of alternative economic historians onto our TV screens - people who might discuss, even advocate, a different approach.

More Michael Hudson, and less Niall Ferguson would makes for a more 'balanced debate'. As it is, we get close to 100% of the latter and none of the former.

Not surprisingly, theorists such as Ferguson never, ever suggest that banks might or should lose their monopoly over credit creation.

But apologists for a Priesthood with unchallenged power are unlikely to point out that the Priesthood need not actually have so much power.

That's not their job...

Alison Alloway said...

I'm glad there are a few of us who have a predilection for serious debate (as opposed petty gossip).
Perhaps this issue of the credit agencies and the global financial crisis can be discussed more fully in "Open Debate"?