reposing this, really bewildering when you think about it

The National Australia Day Council, a taxpayer-funded body that chooses the Australian of the Year, invokes secrecy provisions to avoid disclosing how it operates, while flouting its own guideline that selection panels should be a fair reflection of the community. Analysis by The Weekend Australian of the selection panels for each state and territory for the 2016 Australian of the Year, the most controversial since the program’s inception, shows the panels were almost completely drawn from the public service and sponsors: the ABC, Fairfax Media, Qantas, Commonwealth Bank and global hotel chain InterContinental. Among about 110 judges on the separate selection panels only a few judges were not employed by, or affiliated with, the government, the National Australia Day Council and its sponsors. The council states in an internal document that it aimed to “achieve a representative balance of the general community on each selection panel”. “The panel should reflect Australia’s diversity including multicultural, indigenous, youth, women, rural / remote, and a range of fields of endeavour,’’ it says. But average Australians who are intrinsic to the general or local community — men and women such as teachers, nurses, and those in small business — are absent from all of the selection panels. As the co-ordinating body for the Australian of the Year Awards, the council states its vision is to “inspire national pride and spirit to enrich the life of all Australians”. The council cited legal advice from the Department of the Prime Minister to block a recent freedom of information request fromThe Weekend Australian which sought details about internal processes and selections. After initially ­refusing to disclose information, the council took a month to reveal the panels’ judges who deliver awards which can be lucrative for winners, some of whom command tens of thousands of dollars for speeches to corporations and public and private events. The 2016 awards were particularly controversial as former chief of the army David Morrison won Australian of the Year, in large part for his delivery in 2013 of a speech written by one of the runners-up, transgender military officer Catherine McGregor, which included a line “the standard you walk past is the standard you ­accept”. Group Captain McGregor became a top contender for the award, having been named Queenslander of the Year late last year as a “diversity champion” ­despite living outside the state for most of the past 40 years and being found guilty by the army of “unacceptable behaviour” for ridiculing and lampooning a fellow military officer on social media. In early January, with Group Captain McGregor still a contender for Australian of the Year, Defence officials made a confidential $25,000 taxpayer-funded compensation payout to the officer. In response to the freedom of information bid, council chief executive Jeremy Lasek said discussions surrounding the selection process generally were confidential and “no minutes are recorded other than the final results”. Mr Lasek said that “in the spirit of goodwill we are however willing to provide” documents including lists of judges. The lists show that in the ACT, where retired Lieutenant General Morrison was selected as the finalist, there were 16 judges. All but one were closely linked to the government or the council. Five were from the sponsors, including the ABC and Fairfax Media. The 11-strong selection panel for Queensland comprised four senior federal and state public servants, three representatives of the council, three from the sponsors and an indigenous leader. Judges are told “the contents of the selection pack and the conversations that take place in the meeting are to be kept in the strictest confidence. This is to protect the dignity of individuals and to ­enable frank and fearless advice”.