Two weeks into a Right to Know campaign, in which the Australian media has put aside differences in an attempt to break down the walls of Jericho around arguably the most secretive democracy in the Western world, one conclusion is clear.

Newspaper front pages across all major media outlets on the first day of the press freedom campaign. Credit:Eddie Jim

Meaningful progress towards a more open society in which the public’s right to know is respected will not eventuate until and unless the nation enacts a charter of rights that enshrines in statute basic freedoms that are taken for granted in comparable Western democracies.

While the media is at one in its Right to Know campaign to unlock government secrets and protect journalist inquiry, it is divided on what would be the basic building block that would facilitate a better-informed society. This is, and let me put this in capitals: a CHARTER OF RIGHTS.

Space here does not permit a listing of all the freedoms described in a charter of rights document prepared by the National Human Rights Consultation committee established in 2008 by the Kevin Rudd government as part of its 2020 agenda. But in summary the three core freedoms described in that document are the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief; the right to manifest one’s religious beliefs; and the right to freedom of expression.