PDC: Democratic institutions working group

This Working Group (WG) was established by the Policy Development Committee (PDC) on 1 May 2013.

Working group report
This working group was tasked with developing policy on improving trust in democratic institutions through increased transparency and higher standards. It is chaired by David Crafti and has prepared the following policy text for consideration of party members.

Recommendation
That the following reforms be adopted to enhance transparency and merit in our democratic institutions.

Preamble
Australia’s governance is facing a crisis of confidence. Rising secrecy is leading to a disconnection of the parliament and the public service from society, even as political dialog and debate takes on an increasingly scripted and toxic tone. The loss of public trust and respect threatens greater disengagement - a vicious cycle which needs to be met with determined efforts to restore accountability and trust to our democratic institutions.

Public integrity and trust rely on the public right to be informed about decisions taken on their behalf, with public participation representing an important driver of informed policy-making. This principle finds practical application in Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation.[1] Pirate Party Australia supports this legislation, but believes more can be done to enhance its effectiveness. A significant barrier to truly effective FoI laws is created through the application of blanket exemptions based on arbitrary judgements of relevance or on which authority claims ownership of the documents. While exemptions must exist, we believe they should be narrower, time limited, and justified by a higher threshold of due cause. This will provide not only greater faith in the FoI system, but a higher level of accountability and trust across all levels of government.

Another pillar of public integrity is the capacity to swiftly identify and manage wrongdoing and corruption. Whistleblowers are an essential part of this capacity, and an important check on potential abuses of power. Repeated instances of harsh and inappropriate punishment and covert forms of deterrence over the past 10 years provide a strong case for improving the robustness of whistleblower protections[2]. It is past time that whistleblowers gained the essential freedom to speak out without fear of undue reprisal, and with reasonable confidence that wrongs will be righted.

Transparency also requires periodic reviews of public sector spending and processes, and we accordingly support moves to conduct a comprehensive audit process. Also, since the state is funded by all citizens, we believe that services provided by the state and its authorized service providers should be offered subject to a firm principle of non-dscrimination. We reject recent instances where this principle has failed to be applied.[3]

Institutional improvement should be accompanied by a lifting in political standards. Political conduct and dialogue in Australia is generally reckoned to be at a low ebb. Some improvement can be made by applying greater standards of openness with regard to the movement of money within the political system. However we also highlight the need for proper scrutiny of public spending: it should no longer be acceptable to shut down such scrutiny through the use of commercial-in-confidence clauses. [3]

Finally, we propose urgent measures to improve political conduct during elections. The election process is presently riddled with political manipulation of a type inconsistent with a healthy democracy. Instituting fixed terms removes one form of direct manipulation, but a better standard of political dialogue is also essential for restoring trust. Elections as conducted encourage a reliance on talking points and scripts which hide agendas, spread misinformation, and push out meaningful dialogue. A proper debate process modelled on the US approach will create a setting in which politicians will be obliged to communicate meaningfully and respectfully with other and with the public. The addition of new voices to the debate should also be encouraged, and Pirate Party Australia is a firm advocate of liquid and direct democracy as a means to encourage participation. Pirate Party Australia pledges to do all it can to support participation and new voices by restoring candidate fees to a reasonable level, and opposing legislation intended to prevent candidates from competing in elections.

Policy text
Improve transparency and credibility in systems of governance
 * Improve the operation and transparency protections afforded by FoI laws.
 * Remove blanket organizational exemptions and evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis.
 * Remove relevance as a criteria for exemption
 * Exemptions to be subject to time limits, with extensions to be justified.
 * Ensure documents are unclassified by default.
 * Additional resources to be provided to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to ensure a robust and speedy FoI review and appeals process.
 * Maintain and expand data availability though data.gov.au and support an Open Data Act mandating that data released under an FoI request is comprehensive and provided in a re-usable format.
 * Provide new protections for whistleblowers.
 * Adopt the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Bill 2012 in full.
 * Adopt additional measures to build in further protection to all parties:
 * Indemnity provision to third parties involved in the disclosure of information
 * An intermediary system for anonymous disclosures, including a mechanism allowing whistleblowers to remain in regular, anonymous contact with investigative authorities.
 * A central channel will be available internally within government departments allowing the whistleblower to log in anonymously and make official disclosures, specifying their own key.
 * The officials can assess the information, ask for more or provide more.
 * Only the whistleblower with the key can then log back in to that section and continue correspondence about that leak.
 * Allowances for expedited data preservation orders, including a provision allowing such orders to take effect before a disclosure is made in cases where evidence is at risk of being destroyed.
 * Provisions to allow for disclosure of irrelevant information, where such information forms part of a larger document whose disclosure in complete form is necessary to preserve the quality of evidence.
 * All contracts and deals with suppliers and other businesses to be placed in the public domain.
 * Insert a non-discrimination clause applying to all publically funded bodies, universities, and bodies paid to act on behalf of the state.
 * Providers will have no right to discriminate on the basis of sex, age, race or sexual alignment in the delivery of service provision, access to resources, or any use of public or educational premises and facilities.
 * Provide an official method for Australians to directly petition the federal government for a change in law or other government policy
 * All levels of government should recognise and facilitate e-petitions.
 * Petitions reaching a predetermined quota to carry attendant obligations upon governments including mandated parliamentary discussion, meetings with petitioners and formal recognition of issues raised.

Improve transparency and conduct in Australian politics
 * Increase oversight of processes around political donations.
 * Mandatory disclosure of all political gifts and donations provided to elected representatives which have a value over $1000.
 * Donations to be capped at $50 for public events.
 * Foreign donations to be banned.
 * Electoral Commissions to collate information into a single searchable database available online and at Electoral Commission offices for ready access to the general public.
 * The database will be updated at three-month intervals, with requirements for donors to report donations within 6 weeks.
 * Prohibit donation splitting between branches of parties to prevent current practice of concealing donations through division into smaller amounts.
 * Create a lobbyists register with mandatory coverage of all lobbyists and full records of all meetings between lobbyists and legislators or government officials.
 * Improve participation and credibility of the electoral process.
 * Enact fixed terms with the AEC to determine the election date.
 * An independent Debates Commission will be established to oversee debate rules, timing, candidate questions, and format.
 * Debates to occur 21 days, 14 days, and 7 days, prior to the election.
 * One debate (selected by the Debates Commission) will allow and include representatives from minor parties.
 * All debates to include public representation and questions.
 * Pass a truth in political advertising law, creating an offense for circulation of claims which are:
 * Contained in a political advertisement or how to vote card
 * Intended to be a statement of fact
 * Inaccurate or misleading to a material extent.
 * Repeal amendments to the Electoral Act enacted under Schedule 2 of the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Improving Electoral Procedure) Act 2013, and restore candidate nomination fees to the pre-existing level.
 * Trial use of electronic voting systems (not online) as an option in polling stations.
 * Specifications and source code will be made publicly available.
 * A verifiable paper-trail will be required.