Published Opinions
Seeing through the government
May 13, 2024by Isabelle Reinecke. Published in TheMonthly.com The Albanese government made promises on transparency, but its use of FOI and NDAs is still disturbingly widespread.
Outgoing ministers can no longer keep their secrets buried. What could be unearthed?
March 28, 2024by Isabelle Reinecke. Published in Crikey.com. Christian Porter, Scott Morrison, Anthony Albanese. Whose ministerial secrets could be aired after a Federal Court closed a dodgy loophole?
It is time for the government to face the truth: they have given our islands a death sentence
March 27, 2024By Aunty McRose Elu. Published in The Koori Mail. My hope is that our leaders will listen to our people and listen to our elders, come with an open mind and an open heart. When...
Australians need to better understand the reality of detainees’ lives
December 06, 2023by Isabelle Reinecke. Published in Crikey.com. There's a reason our constitution leaves it to judges, not politicians, to put people in jail for crimes — they aren’t driven by external pressures such as media...
A properly functioning FOI system could have condemned Robodebt’s architects long ago
July 30, 2023by Isabelle Reinecke. Published in The Canberra Times. It shouldn’t have taken a Royal Commission to air the fundamental rot of the Robodebt scheme.
Distressing overreach on India Travel ban reveals little known but over-used “dictatorial” power
May 27, 2021by Isabelle Reinecke. In the wake of the Morrison Government’s midnight announcement to ban Australian citizens from returning home from India, the public has been forced to confront assumptions about how our democracy operates.
Strong democratic systems will see us through COVID-19
April 20, 2020by Isabelle Reinecke and Belinda Lowe. The COVID-19 crisis has rapidly hit every aspect of our lives. Governments are making life or death decisions during this emergency period that will reshape the face of...
Palace letters highlight undemocratic secrecy
February 23, 2019by Jennifer Robinson. In 1944 Australia attempted to modernise its constitution through the ‘14 Powers’ referendum, which was lost. Many of the proposed 14 changes were passed in subsequent years including the right for...