While it rarely becomes top of mind for voters, there are times where political parties attempt to take on some of the responsibilities of governments, either because they don’t trust government agencies to perform these duties, or they perceive some form of electoral or financial value in doing so. A recent case in point is…
Like most people with a broad digital footprint I’ve been hacked multiple times, usually in fairly minor ways. Around ten years ago I had my PayPal account hacked through malware in the Amazon site, costing me $300. PayPal staff insisted this was a legitimate payment for goods (which I hadn’t ordered) being delivered to my…
Over the last few years we’ve seen increasing attention on the use of personal technology by politicians. From our current Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who uses Wickr, to Hilary Clinton’s use of a personal email server, and even the struggle President Barack Obama faced to use an iPhone, politicians – like the rest of us…
These days it seems almost everyone in government is focused on quick wins – outcomes that can be achieved fast, with limited resources but a big impact. I recognise the logic. Going after low hanging, minimal risk, cheap and (sometimes) easy, quick successes satisfies both the insatiable desire for Ministerial media announcements and helps build trust within…
One of the significant news stories in Australia this week is the revelation that Bill Shorten failed to correctly disclose a $40,000 electoral donation in a timely manner – breaching parliamentary requirements. This is far from the first time a politician has done this, with repeated errors in declaring donations an ongoing issue for both…
History has shown that over time it is inevitable that any human political system will be gamed by those who wish to gain from it. Some is done with the public good at heart, to fix system and policy flaws, some is done based on ideological belief and some is done out of pure selfish…
A politician’s maiden speech in parliament is usually constructed with great thought and care. It serves as a platform on which they plan to stand for the rest of their term, the issues they intend to prosecute and the topics on which they prefer to engage. However can the same be said of their first…
This is the second in a series of interviews I’m doing as part of Delib Australia’s media partnership with CeBIT in support of GovInnovate. I’ll also be livetweeting and blogging the conference on 25-27 November. View other posts in this series. If I had to pick someone to be in charge of developing an electronic…
I’ve been tracking the number of Australian Federal politicians using Australia’s leading social channels for two years now, seeing the number using at least one of Facebook and Twitter grow from 79% in April 2012 to 90% in November 2013 to a current level of 92%. What’s even more interesting is in the details, which…
A few years ago I heard it said by political advisors that one hand-written letter to a Minister counts for more than 100 emails on the same topic. The perception was that if someone sat down and wrote their thoughts in long-hand it showed more interest and commitment than if they typed and posted them…
This archive mirrors the original eGov AU blog — Craig’s professional commentary on AI, digital government and technology in public life, running since 2006.
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