The guvment is considering a “consultation blog” to engage folks in the democratic process. It’s all about e-government, Web2.0 and other funky buzzwords:

Government agencies in Australia have traditionally involved citizens and community in the processes and decisions that affect them. With the advent of e-government and the increasing use of information and communication technologies to enhance government service delivery, opportunities arise for agencies to engage and involve citizens and communities through new channels.

[…]

The rise of new multimedia broadband technologies such as Web 2.0 bring a stream of digital innovations that are transforming the way people use the Internet and the way in which they communicate. Specifically, Web 2.0 provides amongst other things, real time interaction, democratized web spaces, user generated content and citizen journalism. People’s use of these new innovations is driving expectations for new approaches to the way government interact. Governments cannot ignore these changing social dynamics, especially in relation to citizen engagement.

Sounds like a great idea on the face of it. However, perhaps these Web1.0 bureaucrats should spend some time reading political blog comment threads to see how little they resemble reasoned, intelligent debate. Just as only fanatic, partisan people and organisations bother to write submissions for government inquiries, only fanatic, partisan people and organisations will bother to engage with the e-forum. Plus there’s the added Godwin’s factor and the Iain; Hall factor.

And finally, blogs that don’t have pictures of cats can’t be taken seriously.