Bill Browne

The Price of Freedom The Albanese government is lagging on transparency: Only 21% of 2023-24 FOI requests were granted in full compared to 81% in 2006-07. Whereas the

For more FOI stats, see @australiainstitute.org.au "The price of freedom" australiainstitute.org.au/report/the-p...

The Albanese Government's case for crackdown on FOI fell apart when it became clear that there is no "flood" of FOI requests.

Case load is about the same as 20 years ago. The extra costs and delays are a result of FOI officers spending their time trying to block access and censor documents.

But the review itself shows that letting vested interests lead policy is a trap --

It describes how the business groups that encouraged the Libs to adopt nuclear left the party in the lurch when it was time to sell the policy.

live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

Extraordinary from the Liberal Party's 2025 election review: not all shadow ministers are "equipped" to develop policy.

Their main job is to "cultivate relationships" with interest groups, who are "keen to assist in policy development".

Private donors are keen to assist too.

✍️ ADD YOUR NAME: End Government Secrecy Australians have a right to access government information and to understand how decisions are made on their behalf. But the Labor Government’s proposed changes to freedom of information laws threaten ...

What comes next?

25,000 Australians have joined @australiainstitute.org.au call for a more open government, including genuine FOI reform, making Cabinet documents public in days not years, and protecting whistleblowers. nb.australiainstitute.org.au/end_governme...

The Point Live: Government pulls bungled FOI changes; Rockstar reception for Carney after calling out Trump; Treasurer's war warning; Calls for military repatriation flights for stranded Australians The federal government pulls its bungled FOI reforms; Canadian PM gets a rockstar reception at Parliament House, after calling out Trump and Netanyahu's military action as "inconsistent with internat...

The government made false and exaggerated claims to justify the changes, which would have made FOIs more limited and more costly – in direct contradiction of the recommendations of the Robodebt Royal Commission.

More on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog: live.thepoint.com.au

Labor's secretive and restrictive changes to freedom of information law have failed in the Senate, with the Govt admitting defeat by pulling the bill.

Opposition, Greens and independents held firm, saying law reform is needed -- but it must be genuine and consultative.

The Point Live: Tim Wilson's fuel excise gaffe; Australia's "consular crisis"; Economy grows faster than expected; PM's "boss move" Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson commits a major gaffe on fuel excise; PM's release of disastrous coalition election review described as "boss move" by senior Liberal; PM calls UAE President as Foreign Min...

Are the Liberals out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong about climate change.

Even the Liberal Party's rap song failed to win them over.

live.thepoint.com.au?post=d8ae33b...

Liberal review clear that the party's inability to win over women is a problem, with @alicektg.bsky.social spotting that "women" or "female" are mentioned 76 times to men/male's 5.

But will the party do the work of figuring out why, or put it off another decade? live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

Xi’s China will be world-shaping in the coming months and years. Our return to Beijing could not be more timely or urgent Lisa Visentin March 3, 2026 — 3:45pm

Australia faces the threat of war with China within three years – and we’re not ready Are we prepared for full-scale conflict? Our panel of national security experts says no. March 7, 2023Peter Hartcher and Matthew Knott

lulz, the SMH is announcing it is re-opening its China bureau almost exactly 3 years since they said we could be at war with China in... *checks notes*... 3 years

Thank you!

In the EU there is a court of justice approved list of animal adjacent names you can use in different countries.

Peanut butter is fine everywhere
Creme de menthe in French speaking countries
Etc

This stuff is truly ridiculous. No one is getting confused by "soy milk".

The Point Live: Tim Wilson's fuel excise gaffe; Australia's "consular crisis"; Economy grows faster than expected; PM's "boss move" Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson commits a major gaffe on fuel excise; PM's release of disastrous coalition election review described as "boss move" by senior Liberal; PM calls UAE President as Foreign Min...

More to come! live.thepoint.com.au

The Liberal review talks almost as much about "Teal" community independents as Labor Govt.

Indies outflanked them by speaking "a great deal about kindness" while Libs spent most of digital budget on attack ads.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

Lib Party aging, hostile to women's groups, doesn't use its taxpayer-funded think tank for policy dev, was derailed by extreme wishful thinking -- to the extent that they were surprised the election happened on schedule after wishing it would be early.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

Blood sport might be good fun, but it's hypocritical of the Labor Govt to release an internal report from a rival political party when same Govt "hates transparency", fights FOIs, orders for docs, prosecutes whistleblowers.
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

Oh, one last thing to leave you with – and it’s big: the full Coalition Election Review has just dropped. Read it here.

.@glennconnley.bsky.social, @grogsgamut.bsky.social:

'disastrous lack of planning, consultation, communication, common sense … from pointless travel to meaningless locations … MPs given no notice Dutton would be announcing policy in their electorate that day.' live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

Over on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog, @australiainstitute.org.au have been breaking down the Liberal Party's 2025 election review

-- which the Prime Minister leaked last night because he'd rather talk about that than anything else happening in the world.

The Point Live: No request to join military action: PM; Canadian PM visits; gender pay gap shrinks slightly The PM and Deputy PM say there's been no request for Australia to join military action in the Middle East; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney begins an official visit to Australia; new data reveals t...

Read the details from @skyelark.bsky.social on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog: live.thepoint.com.au?post=ceee29f...

Minor/indie vote rises from sub-10% in 1970s to 34% at 2025, and 48% in current polling.

Almost half of Australians now say they intend to vote for minor parties and independents -- up from 34% at last year's election.

Even before One Nation's meteoric (though to-date only speculative) rise, the 2025 election was a high point.

Breaking the nexus: Push to crack down on APS consultants exposes unethical procurement practices 'Those with inside experience say the unwillingness of the public service to hold contractors accountable for ethical breaches is a result of its diminishing ability to push back on questionable condu...

Management consultants yet to be properly regulated -- but two private senators' bills (from Green @barbarapocock.bsky.social and Liberal Richard Colbeck) are trying to rein them in.

More from Connor Pearce in The Mandarin www.themandarin.com.au/306444-crack...

Plant-based milk is as deserving of the name “milk” as dairy milk

Dairy lobby is trying to stop people from describing almond milk, oat milk and the like as "milk".

As always, coconuts – with their milk, cream and meat – are let off the hook. They’re not even nuts!

More on this nonsense on @thepointau.bsky.social live blog:
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

But what will happen to steel wool?????

Nice post by @browne90.bsky.social

live.thepoint.com.au

Excellent work by @skyelark.bsky.social on how many guns are stockpiled in each postcode of Sydney
live.thepoint.com.au/2026/03/the-...

The Point Live: No request to join military action: PM; Canadian PM visits Australia; calls for gas tax inquiry The PM and Deputy PM say there's been no request for Australia to join military action in the Middle East; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney begins an official visit to Australia; David Pocock calls...

More from me on these rushed, undemocratic and poor value-for-money laws on The Point live blog. live.thepoint.com.au?post=abc9611...

Taxpayers could foot $100k bill for assault-accused MP's re-election bid Independent MP Nick McBride, who is currently on home detention bail for the alleged assault of his wife, could receive around $100,000 in public funding to support his re-election campaign, according...

It's the second loophole the ABC has found in the new laws in as many months. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

South Australians are effectively paying $18 million to subsidise not just the parties’ state election campaigns, but now their federal campaigns as well.

SA parties raise federal campaign funds amid political donation ban Political experts say the use of South Australian political party websites to fundraise for federal campaign purposes raises questions about the risk and perceptions of influence amid new state bans.

As ABC News' Will Hunter reports, Labor, Liberal and the Greens are still using the attention and excitement of the election campaign to collect private money.

They’re just going to put it towards federal purposes instead of state ones. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

With South Australia’s election less than three weeks away, you might expect the state’s strict new donation ban would stop the political parties from fundraising.

No chance.

I have a personal interest in the Liberal Party election review -- the 2022 version cited Australia Institute research, and I'm curious whether the 2025 version did as well.