Australian federal politician to speak at OpenLabourNZ event

The Australian politician who has spearheaded Australia’s open government initiatives will address the OpenLabourNZ public event in Wellington on Saturday, Labour’s Communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran announced today.

Kate Lundy, Labor Senator for the Australian Capital Territory is the second international keynote speaker to be announced.

She will speak alongside Andrew Rasiej, an open government expert who has advised US Senators, Congressmen and political leaders on the use of Internet since 1999, including Senate candidate Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Howard Dean, and Barack Obama (before he became US President).

Senator Lundy is a strong advocate for the use of the internet, digital technology and ICT innovation to strengthen the Australian economy for future growth, to transform public engagement in government processes and to enhance social inclusion within our communities.

She has participated in every Senate Inquiry relating to telecommunications and Information Technology over the last fourteen years, and spearheaded Gov 2.0 initiatives such as her Public Sphere events which facilitate online public collaboration on policy development.

She has represented the Australian Capital Territory in the Senate in the Australian Federal Parliament as a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1996.

OpenLabourNZ is New Zealand’s first attempt to develop political policy in an open forum directly involving the community, and using online technology.

The public event on 28 August in Wellington brings together ideas generated over the last four months on how to deliver open and transparent government. People can register by emailing open@labour.org.nz

Labour Leader Phil Goff will also deliver a keynote address at the event.

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