18 March 2024

A question that should be asked in Wednesday’s Tasmanian election leaders’ debate: will you commit to making ministers’ diaries public? Given the record of both major parties, the answer is likely to be a prevarication.

Accountability is fundamental for a healthy democracy which is why the major parties should commit to making ministers’ diaries public.

The current government promised to make minister’s diaries public but never did and the Liberals have been silent on the issue during the campaign. Labor has also been silent, despite one of its former leaders, David Bartlett, being the first minister in Australia to make cabinet diaries public in 2009. The practice continued until the Liberals won office in 2014.

Queensland’s government has made ministers’ diaries public from January 2021. Tasmania should follow suit. When information is made public, people can be confident government on their behalf is being done in an open, transparent way. In other words, there is nothing to hide. That’s good for voters and good for government.