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Whilst “industrial users” is not defined, it appears to be the media (press). In Australia the media do not use FOI as well as it should, but apparently in the UK it does. The article named the Manchester Evening News, the Salford Star and the BBC as effective users of FOI.
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The purpose of FOI (GIPA in NSW, Australia) is to enable people to question why government makes certain decisions and to access government records. Governments, federal, state and local are elected by the voters.
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Whilst it may be inconvenient or even embarrassing to deal with some applications, the people, and the media have the right to ask questions and, if appropriate, hold the agency or the level of government accountable for breaches of the trust in which they are held.
The funding for not only the work carried out by government, but also for the people employed to carry out that work comes from the voters. The people have the right to satisfy themselves that their money is being spent responsibly and there is no corruption or mismanagement in how that is done.
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How dare any government, at any level, seek to avoid accountability by avoiding public scrutiny or increasing fees in order to dissuade the people, or their representatives, from satisfying themselves that all is well in the public service!
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Irish speaker John Philpot Curran in a speech upon the Right of Election in 1790 said, in part, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance”. The people of every free country have the right to hold their governments accountable. Men, women and children die fighting for freedom and no public servant, government official or elected representative has the right to try and avoid being accountable for what he or she does in carrying out their duties or spending public monies.
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