Tony Abbott Quotes

And the commitment that I've been giving to the Australian people is that there'll be no surprises and no excuses under a Coalition government.

There will be no surprises and no excuses from a Coalition government, Barrie.

Certainly accountability of government is what people are clamoring for; they want to know that when lawmakers make a promise or a proposal, you can actually accomplish it.

Although governments will also benefit from improved access to information, increased transparency will allow people at home and abroad to better observe and critique what governments do and to hold leaders accountable for their decisions. As a result, governments will find it harder to adopt strategies that require secrecy or violate international norms.

As long as the government's actions are secret, it cannot be held accountable. A government for the people and by the people should be transparent to the people.

We are going to be a government of no surprises and no excuses; a government which keeps its commitments and a government which is straight and candid with the Australian people and that's what we intend to do.

Ever since I arrived in Washington in April 2009, I have been fighting for more transparency and accountability in government.

Any unveiling is also veiling. No matter how transparent our governments want to be, governments will be selectively transparent.

We should be able to go to our government and get clear answers.

I want to make it clear publicly that I expect more candor from this Administration during the next four years, particularly with members on the Foreign Relations Committee so that we can maintain a bipartisan foreign policy.

Even in non-democratic countries, people have a legitimate interest in knowing about actions taken by the government.

The American people expect and deserve a government that works and leaders who work together.

We simply cannot afford to allow our government to go unscrutinised, most of all in amid the bleak seeming imperatives of the 'war on terror'.

At the dawn of his administration, President Obama opined: 'A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency.' Magical rays of white-hot sunlight emanated from his media-manufactured halo. And then bureaucratically engineered darkness settled over the land.

The American people need to know the truth. The American people need to see the truth. In a democracy, letting the people know the truth is the essence of what it means to be free.

Voters cannot hold officials responsible if they do not know what government is doing, or which parts of government are doing what.

I never will support any Government in fraudulently concealing from the King the rights of his people.

It's important to make sure that governments have some checks on what they do, that people can oversee what's being done so the government doesn't abuse it.

Bradley Manning should be regarded as a hero. He is doing what an honest, decent citizen should be doing: letting your population know what the government, the people who rule you are doing. They want to keep it secret of course.

Wikileaks is a democratizing force. Its giving individuals access to decisions and thinking by their representatives and in a democracy that ought to be reflexive.

No government can continue good, but under the control of the people.

Openness fundamentally affects a lot of the core institutions in society - the media, the economy, how people relate to the government and just their leadership.

When information which properly belongs to the public is systematically withheld by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of their own affairs, distrustful of those who manage them, and -- eventually -- incapable of determining their own destinies.

Government that is open and honest will always be able to withstand the light of day.

The Australian people expect the Government to govern, they don't expect it to make excuses.