We’re excited about the launch of a new website - OpenAustralia.
There are several great examples of political watchdog sites around the world; ePolitix in the UK, Common Cause and Public CItizen in the US, but it was the TheyWorkForYou site in the UK that was the turning point for public involvement in Parliament. That has apparently spawned an Australian version, which at present only covers the House of Representatives, but already shows great potential (it is only in beta mode at present).
To quote the site:
With OpenAustralia we hope to strengthen our traditions of fair and open democracy in Australia. This site is about giving you, the Australian public, the tools to easily follow what goes on in Parliament, and be just a little better informed.
You’ll hopefully discover with OpenAustralia that what goes on in Parliament is much more interesting than you might imagine - entertaining even!
What you see on TV or in newspapers is only a small part of what goes on. OpenAustralia is about giving you access to all the other stuff in an easy to use and friendly form.
One huge hurdle for most parliamentarians is finding ways to keep the public informed in an interesting way, and this site does attempt to engage in a simple, quick and effective manner.
We’re hoping that they get their Senate component up and online soon, so we can be a part of this great experiment in citizen journalism and government accountability.
OpenAustralia rocks! At a glance I can see what my sorry excuse for an MP is doing in Parliament.
Unsure why the public sector is unable to provide reasonable organisation of information like this website.
APH seem to try to offer something reasonable, but fall staggeringly short. Don’t really know why that is.
And the source code is released!!! Whoever they are…. they know something about providing public services.
hope they’re going to add the Senate.
[...] Tim Norton promotes it on the official blogs of the Australian Greens Senators [...]