Amy Mullins theguardian.com, Monday 28 October 2013

Abbott proclaimed that the election was 'all about trust', but in power has thrown up significant obstacles to transparency. This week he has the opportunity to change

Psst .... Tony Abbott speaks to Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik in Sydney. Photograph: Reuters

Sir Arnold Robinson, the most senior civil servant in the BBC’s political satire Yes, Minister once said of open government, “It's a contradiction in terms, you can be open or you can have government.”

That nugget of wisdom from the 1980s reflected the reality of a much more secretive practice of governance in the UK and Australia. Progress has been made since then with the establishment of and reforms to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and a gradual cultural shift towards greater transparency, accelerated by the democratising effect of the internet and social media.

The tension within Sir Arnold’s statement, however, still exists. Both major parties have very publicly struggled to reconcile their political agenda and survival with a hyper-critical 24/7 media cycle and the expectations that a democratic government be accountable and open to scrutiny.

We saw the Labor Party in government between 2007 and 2013 look like gushing teenagers, spilling their guts to the media whenever a new policy development, boat arrival, or internal leadership ruction occurred.

The Coalition, in contrast, look like smug Ivy League secret society members, tight-lipped and arrogant in their responses to probing media questions over MPs’ misuse of travel expenses claims and incidences of self-harm at detention centres during weekly briefings on Operation Sovereign Borders.

Both parties’ strategies were and are unsustainable in the long-term.

Labor’s communications strategy caused information fatigue over time, eventually leading to appearances of a very inward-looking government – the electorate understandably switched off.

The Coalition’s strategy is one of extreme control and caution – a hangover from the election campaign, which if sustained, is likely to cause significant distrust towards the government.

If the 2013 election was as Abbott proclaimed, “all about trust” then he and his staffers need to rethink their media strategy. In order to deliver on his promise of “a government that is competent and trustworthy and a prime minister who doesn't talk down to you”, Abbott might first want to start with a full explanation to taxpayers regarding a number of Coalition MPs’ questionable travel expenses claims, his included.

Contrary to columnist Andrew Bolt’s observation last Friday that Abbott has done “very little media management” since he was elected, readers with a working short-term memory will recall that soon after assuming office Abbott ordered all ministerial media appearances to be vetted via the Prime Minister’s Office. This strategy, which media veterans Barrie Cassidy and Laurie Oakes note, continues to hinder the flow of information to media and is a concerning early sign of a lack of transparency.

Just as the Institute of Public Affairs wrote on the subject of transparency in September 2011, “Without transparency, government accountability is not possible. Indeed, the ability of citizens to hold public officials accountable is directly proportional to the disclosure of information.”

With similar sentiment, The Australian newspaper, in its election eve endorsement of the Liberal Party, reminded Abbott of the very same principle crucial to an accountable government, that “Mr Abbott must maintain a commitment to transparency that is easier to make in opposition than to observe in power.”

As the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit starts in London this Thursday, it would be a strong demonstration of good faith, trust and global citizenship for Tony Abbott to provide his commitment to Australia’s membership of the OGP. This would see a public consultation to develop the nation’s own action plan for greater transparency in government.

Sir Arnold was quite misguided in his advice to Bernard Woolley when he said that “if people don't know what you're doing, they don't know what you're doing wrong.” He forgot a crucial caveat; that no matter what the timeframe, people always find out in the end. Transparency builds trust between a government and the public it serves and Australia has made great steps towards the principle of open government. We must not lose sight of that.

It's time Tony Abbott opened up his government | Amy Mullins | Comment is free | theguardian.com