Blog

Welcome to our blog where you can keep up to date on our thoughts about
governance, democracy, accountability and transparency in Tasmania.
Click on the headline to read more.

  • Legislative Council’s new role confirmed

    17 April 2026 The Legislative Council’s passing of the bill for the university to sell land above Churchill Avenue has three undesirable consequences, among others. It: None of these bode well for good governance in our state and should be deplored. The passing of the University of Tasmania (Protection of Land) bill is the third…

    Read more: Legislative Council’s new role confirmed

  • A Good Week for Accountability

    22 March 2026 Government transparency and accountability improved in three ways last week, thanks to our power-sharing House of Assembly. They were: These changes will strengthen our accountability mechanisms and that reduces the abuse of power and aligns policy-making to public rather than private, unaccountable interests.    More good news for integrity in government  was…

    Read more: A Good Week for Accountability

  • Keep Hare Clark

    11 September 2025 The co-creator of Tasmania’s electoral system, Andrew Inglis Clark, wanted parliament to be the state’s most important debating chamber. And so parliament should represent the broadest possible range of opinions. For Clark, elections were not just to elect an executive.  That’s why calls by former Labor staffer Jody Fassina (The Mercury Talking…

    Read more: Keep Hare Clark

  • Educating MPs

    1 September 2025 A political career is one of the few that doesn’t require specific qualifications. That’s why Professor Pam Allan’s suggestion that the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) could create a course for members of parliament (The Mercury Talking Point 1 September) should be implemented. AICD course content includes strategy, conflict resolution, collaboration…

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  • Tasmania lags in integrity

    22 August 2025 Transparency International Australia (TIA) provides the latest prompt for the need to reform not just Tasmania’s lobbying regulations but also the Integrity Commission. As the Mercury’s editorial (22 August) said, “Tasmania’s weak system of integrity is not a bug in our political culture; it is one of its defining features.”  The TIA…

    Read more: Tasmania lags in integrity

  • Political culture must change

    17 August 2025 Parliament will resume on Tuesday, a month after the election, and we still don’t know who the government will be. And that’s too long for some people which is why there are calls to replace our Hare Clark electoral system with single-member electorates. Politics is the art of negotiation and negotiations take…

    Read more: Political culture must change