From Gino Risoli.
WE are living in a very fast moving technological time. We need a very much more responsive government that is free from the restraints of bias to respond to the changing world more accurately and with better expertise and awareness.

Our current government has not fundamentally changed in the last one thousand years. I say this because the power base is still much centred with a very small number of people able to determine change. This today is not only outdated but also dangerous. Very soon, we may have an opportunity to change this.

Soon our government will be debating the freedom of information act. This act has the possibility and the opportunity of transforming the way our government conducts itself, and not in any small way.

Used properly this will be life changing. It has the capability for voters to interact with government on an evidential basis determining such things as priority of spending on hospitals, schools, infrastructure and the like. Gone will be the times that Jersey people are second-guessing their government and in will come a time where ordinary people and professionals can make a contribution to society without fear that their careers could end on the scrap heap rendered from who knows where.

Let me make myself perfectly clear here. The top ranks of government do not want this freedom of information act to be meaningful. Information is power. This act, if presented properly for debate would effectively transfer power from a ruling minority to a democratic government of the peoples of Jersey. This is what is at stake. You should make yourself aware of this. Nothing in my opinion has ever been as important as this for Jersey. It will affect everyone.

If you do not believe me just see how the ruling minority will try to clip the act so that they are still able to keep control of the flow of information. What you believe to be a natural right to information, they will explain it to be of national security or client confidentiality or data protection and so on.

It will be a ploy to retain their power, nothing more. They have already determined that much of the information belonging to us should be kept from us and that any information given to us should be on a request only basis giving them the option to deny any request.

This ruling minority has kept ahead of the game by putting up every conceivable obstacle. Never forget that power has never been handed on a plate, it does not work that way, and history tells us that you must fight for it.

Now technology has provided the vehicle for a peaceful revolution. By comparison the evolution of government has already started in the United States. Spreading like a fire from state to state, ciy to city, town to town, databases are appearing of finite financial government information online for anyone to see at anytime. Government purchasing, tendering, wages – you name it, it’s there. Go online and see for yourselves.

http://www.fiscalaccountability.org/. The legislation was deployed by the then Senator Obama with another two years ago. Since becoming President, he has ordered his administration to legislate the same for its federal government.
The American people have come to realise that the cornerstones of any democracy must be transparency and accountability.

They have also realised that time is running out for them and the west. Much larger economies are looming and they need to be ready with the best people for the challenge. This can only be achieved by removing the shackles of ignorance and bias born by a lack of information politically held by a self-serving minority.