Gaining access to basic consumer information seems to have more hurdles than one would expect.
A few months ago I approached the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) and asked them for a copy of the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the consultants assessing the Price Cap. I also asked for the dates for their work.
I wasn’t asking for what they were paying the consultants from taxpayer revenue to tell us some things we could determine for ourselves. I felt that as a taxpayer I was entitled to know what they were supposed to be doing so I could enhance any submission on the Price Cap, which affects the pockets of the most vulnerable in our society.
It seemed quite reasonable. The response was that both items of information requested were “internal” and not available to the public.
Well, in August I enquired about the number of people who have been waiting for basic telephone service and the date of the last report.
Surprise! This is also not public information.
Well, what is surprising is that we live in a world where all administrations, including the new Government, talk about transparency and good governance.
But without access to basic information consumers cannot advocate on matters that affect their interests.
So to deny consumers elementary information is tantamount to failing to perform a fundamental public responsibility, that of transparency in public office.
Hallam Hope
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No Referendum, no Republic!
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No Referendum, no Republic! I listened to our Prime Minister give an
interview on ABC Australia, part of which was carried on CBC-TV news on 17
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4 years ago
1 comment:
The truth - as Hallam surely knows - is that in spite of the volumes of rhetoric about parliamentary democracy, spouted from time to time by our social leaders, these former colonial islands are about as closed as the old Iron Curtain. The people at large were never regarded as having the right to know anything done on their behalf by those who govern them.
This mentality afflicts our political leaders and permeates all of the institutions of the state.
I once sought to get information on changes to the constituencies in my role as a Journalist and
was told I needed to write a letter to the office since the person in charge needed to "cover (their) ass." I thought to myself: why would dissemination of information which is destined for the public anyhow be guarded with such diligence.
Of course, those of us who believe in freedom of information and the public right to know must leave no stone unturned in our efforts to expose and eradicate this anachronistic behaviour by public officials.
Olu
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