Email,
Today I have some genuinely good news to share.
The government has abandoned its Freedom of Information Amendment Bill.
After months of pressure from transparency experts, journalists, and GetUp members from across the country, we've killed a bill that would've made it easier for governments to refuse information requests, restricted who can ask for government documents, and introduced new fees – and kept Australians in the dark about government decisions.
You helped to do this. More than 50,000 GetUp members signed our petition calling on Senators to reject the bill. Thousands of you chipped in to fund a full-page ad in the Canberra times – the newspaper politicians read as they walk into Parliament House – putting Senators on notice in the final sitting week of last year. Thousands more joined our online briefings with FOI experts and advocates, shared the campaign, and ensured that this didn't stay buried as an insider issue.
And when the government realised it didn't have the votes for this bill in the Senate, it was quietly withdrawn.
This is how people-powered campaigns are supposed to work.
FOI rarely makes headlines. It operates quietly in the background – journalists filing requests, advocates chasing documents, and communities trying to uncover decisions that affect their lives. It's how Australians learned the truth about Robodebt and the Sports Rorts affair. It's how communities have exposed environmental risk and government waste that would otherwise stay hidden.
Transparency laws are easy to weaken when nobody is watching. But thanks to you, we made the country watch.
And this win is part of something bigger.
Over the past few months, GetUp has been growing stronger – bringing tens of thousands of new supporters into our movement, expanding our small team, and getting ready for fights exactly like this one. This campaign win is proof of what we've always known: when the GetUp community is activated, it wins.
At short notice, tens of thousands of members engaged with a complex, technical issue that most of the media ignored. You funded a major intervention in the nation's capital. You put Senators on notice. And you changed the outcome.
That's not a coincidence. That's what happens when a community of people comes together and refuses to look away.
In the months ahead, the stakes will only get higher. Even now, more FOI requests than ever before are being refused by this government, and too many documents are delayed or heavily redacted. We're seeing a pattern play out across our democracy – governments seeking to centralise power, weaken oversight, and make it harder for the public to see what's being done in their name. The FOI bill was just one example, and it won't be the last.
If this campaign reminded us of anything, it's that those pernicious moves only succeed when nobody is watching. The GetUp community is proof that people still are.
And when people come together to defend democratic rights, it works. That's not wishful thinking – we just proved it.
Thank you for being part of this.
In solidarity,
Paul for the GetUp team
P.S. If you believe in the power of our movement, you can join the GetUp crew with a small monthly contribution. Even a little goes a long way.
|
|
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, donate now! We collect, store and use personal information and other data as set out in our Privacy Policy. If you do not wish to receive updates to emailnew...@googlegroups.com from us, please unsubscribe.
Our team acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work. We wish to pay respect to Elders - past, present and emerging - and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia and the GetUp community.
Authorised by D. Loasby, GetUp, 52 Reservoir St, Sydney.
|
|
