Transparency in the ‘Parish of Noosa’?

Transparency. What’s there not to like?

What is the problem with taking and publishing informative minutes of all official council meetings? And why have we recently observed such reluctance from Noosa councillors?

• Local government laws are clear: The default position for all council meetings and the documents resulting from them is that they should be available to the public.
• The community expectation is also clear: On local social media we have recently seen many people demanding full and transparent minutes and absolutely no calls (aside from the majority of councillors) that this information is not wanted.
• And attitudes worldwide are changing: Accountability and transparency are crucial for good governance and effective management in the transition from the industrial to the digital age.

Easy to access and easy to understand records such as meeting minutes are an essential part of good governance. I have had experience myself of rather belligerent closed door ‘consensus’ making and the accompanying attempts to discredit people assumed to be not playing along.

It is both totally unacceptable behaviour and it doesn’t make for good decision-making and outcomes. Transparency and accountability are not an optional benevolent gesture or a matter of tedious compliance. They are the foundation of open governance and trust and fairness. And without reliable and comprehensive information, we humans can make the most terrible errors.

Open Noosa – Let the light in

Casting back a few months: The need for this Open Noosa blog became clear when a Noosa councillor sent an email to a couple of people explaining why fellow Cr Ingrid Jackson was such bad news for Noosa and alleging that many people at council agreed on this. I was dismayed and wrote the very first Open Noosa post about it.

Although I hadn’t named the councillor in question, he contacted me and asked me to remove the post and warned of potential legal consequences. I decided to pull it, mostly because I just had no headspace for it at the time. My intentions are to make things better and not to cause hurt. I wish however that the same level of concern and respect was proffered to Ingrid by some of her fellow councillors.

Fast forward to Noosa council’s general meeting last Monday: Council debated the motion to exempt all council meetings from keeping minutes. It seemed councillors were clutching at straws to find excuses to keep the proceedings of council (as disclosed in the minutes) in the dark.

I heard subtle but condescending language used by some councillors trying to ridicule Cr Jackson’s push for openness. As we have seen her do in the past, Ingrid formidably argued the issue and not the person. One humorous comment from Cr Brian Stockwell at the general meeting was about ‘not reverting to taking minutes befitting the parish of Dibley’.

Amusing perhaps, but trivialising. I’d argue, that, by not publishing minutes of council deliberations, we are in danger of becoming ‘a parish of Dibley’ rather than the progressive shire many of us want – with fair and open governance prepared to deal with the many challenges ranging from population pressures, increasing social inequity and ensuring the sustainability of our wonderful environment.

Anyway, to finish on a lighter note, here is some total (and naked) transparency from the TV show ‘The Vicar of Dibley’: