What is Open Australia ?

Image via Wikipedia

Perceptive readers will notice the new OpenAustralia search widget on the right hand side.

This is the site that provides the grunt work for GetUp's Project democracy.

So - What is Open Australia?

From the pen/keyboard of one of its volunteer developers

OpenAustralia is a site devoted to the development of an Australian version of the website theyworkforyou.com which aims to make it easy for people to keep tabs on their elected representatives in Parliament.

It's a web site that allows the average netizen to keep tabs on their elected representatives. I don't know about you but most government web sites are rabbit warrens with the information posted in different file formats - the goods are there you just have to have a bit of nouse to find the info you are looking for.

The cynical amongst us might suggest that the way hansard and other records of government activity are stored are done so in this fashion precisely because it is difficult for the average Australian to locate or to monitor the information in an efficient manner.

I can't help but think some politicians would prefer us plebs not to know the full story, not at least until the wheels of Spin are already in motion. But I digress..

What can I do with Open Australia?

Well you can check it out for yourself rather than take my word for it - here.

Or if you are only mildly interested/ short on time continue reading here.

1. Search via postcode on the representatives from your State/Territory
2. Search on specific terms

For example I typed in Mercy Ministries (goodness knows why?) and got four hits

Now I originally found this information the hard way in March, scanning through hansard on the same search terms but this time

• I get the info,
• a link to the senator
• the party they are from

and what's more I can add a comment. So same info, more useful presentation.

The link to the senator takes you to a page where you can view their most recent appearances, view how many people are keeping tabs on them and search their speeches.

Note via a plugin that you can add the search to your firefox search options as well.

The home page of the site also lists the House and Senate debates for the previous day nicely hyper linked , very good if you are following the debate on the Exclusive Brethren .

We get a very sanitized, filtered view of politics and our politicians by the time it is reported to us by the sometime unbiased mainstream media .

We get to hear what is sensational or what might sell, the important stuff can sometime slip through - the horse bolts and public opinion does not have time to form let alone digest.

I really applaud the volunteers who are doing this for the rest of us.

Anything that allows the average Australian to find out earlier, what is being enacted in our name is a good thing.

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