As an Australian lawyer myself, I can confidently say that there is nothing in the Australian constitution giving anyone a “right to know”. Unlike the USA, Australia has no Bill of Rights. Such a Bill has been proposed a few times, but Australians have consistently voted against the idea. From what I can gather, the argument has basically been that Australia being such a wonderful place, there’s no need for a Bill of Rights.

It probably would come as a surprise to most Australians that their Constitution does not even guarantee them an unconditional right to vote: the most basic right of a democracy.

So given that there is no legal right to know things, perhaps it can be said that there is a moral right to know who is good and who is bad. Talking about morals, though, is difficult of course. Some modern politicians I have heard, argue that morals are irrelevant these days, when economy and shareholders’ returns on investments are the most important consideration.

The ACCC ( Consumers and Competition Commission ) in Australia keeps statistics of complaints against organisations ( suppliers ). This can be useful, but since nearly all of these complaints are not investigated, the statistics may be misleading. For example - popular fast food restaurants are known to be very bad for us, but the ACCC statistics would not show this to be obvious. In Western Common Law countries, no-one can say publicly that one of these fast food restaurants is supplying bad products. There are well known legal cases of people who have tried doing this, and they have failed - with devastating financial consequences. Defamation laws are tough.

So if I was to comment on the quality of a supplier, I would need to grant that supplier an opportunity to give their side of their story. That would only be fair. And that is why, on this list, members can comment on each other’s products ( and are encouraged to do so ), but cannot comment on anybody who is not onlist. As anyone can join this list, this list is inclusive - in spite of what some people allege.

We have explained many times that any supplier can join the list and talk about their products. Suppliers that do that, open themselves up to scrutiny, but reputable suppliers may not mind that. But of course disreputable suppliers are very much against it. Some have been very aggressive against this open-discussion policy.

All sorts of allegations have been made against our insistence of being open and we often have to cop more flack than we like ( I see Al Gore is copping his share lately, and I can sympathise). Unfortunately, many people have believed these unsupported allegations. I guess it’s a human trait that, when we hear someone tell us “in confidence” that a supplier is good or bad, we believe them and do not check it out for ourselves. An open list like this is very much in the minority. But when did the fact of being a minority make it wrong? I don’t know.

Most people use McDonalds, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, and tons of household detergents; they drive cars, buy non-recycled toilet paper and watch TV. We are continually told ( TV ads etc. ) that these things are good for us.

As for detergents, I live in Newcastle NSW, which is situated on the Hunter River. I have recently become aware that the waterways leading into this river are 20 times more polluted by household detergents, than the maximum acceptable limits set by the Council. Isn’t that interesting. Yet most of us here in Newcastle, continue to buy and use these detergents.

I think the lesson here is that we need to learn how to think for ourselves. What a concept!