I am very excited to say that I am now working as a Policy Adviser for Senator Kate Lundy! This is a very different direction for me. I have worked in the ICT industry for almost 10 years, been deeply involved in FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) for nearly as long, and although I have worked with several Government agencies, I’ve never been involved in the political arena. I’ve also been a long term observer of Senator Lundy, watching her really involve herself in our industry and try to ensure there is sufficient political debate and understanding around core ICT issues.
I felt and the Senator agreed that it was important I announced this new role in my blog considering the public profile I have, and that I have always tried to be as open and transparent in my actions as I could. Senator Lundy feels that online and transparent engagement with the democractic process is an important goal, and I am now a part of that process.
On a personal level, I am extremely excited about this role. I love Parliament House, and now I am working here. I have always wanted to understand how policy and legislation comes about, and how the political process works. But I have, as have many Australians, been fundamentally disinterested because of, well, the politics 
This role gives me an opportunity to really understand - and hopefully participate effectively in - the system.
This role is my new full time employment, and as such I will not be engaging in any new Waugh Partners’ or other business. Jeff will be continuing as a Waugh Partners’ consultant, focusing primarily on his new website development work.
From a community participation level, I intend on maintaining my participation in various industry and community groups, however I will not be in any leadership or advocacy roles. I have spoken to Donna Benjamin and James Purser, who are both specifically interested in creating a FOSS Government liaison group, and if anyone else is interested in useful engagement with the Government, please speak to Donna or James.
Traditionally a person employed as a political staffer would not have any kind of “public” role. This is largely because of the challenges in ensuring a clear distinction between when a person is speaking on behalf of their employer, or themselves. Taking this into account, plus my existing online presence, we will be experimenting with me continuing to blog and twitter, and I hope to establish a good balance.
I see my new role as a way of contributing to a more robust and informed discussion within Government about ICT, skills development, online engagement in the democratic process, and the importance of openness (standards, technologies, transparency) in sustainable ICT procurement, in industry development and in global competitiveness. I hope that my peers in the FOSS community, in the ICT industry, in the media and in education are supportive of me in this role, and I look forward to an open dialogue to help shape future directions of ICT for and within the Australian Government.
Tags: Government, ict, katelundy
Poor old Kate Lundy seems to have been shouldered out of the exciting jobs lately, and pushed down into a low profile position. It’s a bit unfortunate the way Labor party internal politics works because Lundy has talent and she makes the effort to actually get out and talk to people rather than throwing decrees down from on high.
I don’t see this as such a change of direction for you Pia, somehow you always gravitate towards organizational jobs, advocacy and leadership positions, so federal politics is just the same (but with more backstabbing). So long as you always keep your guard up, you should be OK.
http://historymedren.about.com/library/text/bltxtprincemain.htm
There will be a quiz next week, to see if you could be bothered reading it.
So you mean Pia gravitates to “do no work” job?
Congratulations Pia! This is fantastic news! Keep up the good work.
Yeah, the basic Marxist concept is that the workers do the work and everyone above that just bludges on the workers. Every time some country tries to have just workers and no one to organize them, that country reliably ends up discovering that some animals are more equal than others, and then they rebuild the ruling class that they just abolished.
The thing is, a well organized team is more productive than a bunch of well meaning but badly organized individuals. We could argue all day about the optimal way to get that team working together, but observation shows that some methods are better than others, and some people have more of a knack for it than others.
@Tel, I read The Prince years ago, and found it really thought provoking. I enjoyed the idea that leaders should embrace the _fact_ that they have flaws rather than pretending to be perfect by presenting a face that isn’t their own. There were many other concepts in it that I thought were useful (although, not always the more conscientious, or “nice”).
I think opening up Government processes and participation ends up breaking down the pretences somewhat, and create a more real machine that people can engage with. Aussies are pretty typically cynical about politics, and I think for good reasons, so time too try to improve the system
Wish me luck!
@no-ted, if you know me at all, you’ll know I will apply my usual workaholic approach to any job