Sure. I think the words receiving a pardon mean a lot to the people who get it, but it also hurts a lot more when they don't get it for some reason. I can tell you a number of John Howard clients are told they're not getting their record suspension or their pardon and then you have to torque up the process. You don't want to give up but that adds to the cost as well.
The idea of open and closed would attract less negative repercussions. I think the government is sometimes concerned about being seen as soft and forgiving and pardoning people who may have done something. They've done their time. They've paid their debt. It's done.
I think open and closed would make it a lot cleaner if it was administered as an operation of law. You've done this; it's closed. You've committed another offence; it's reopened. It's cleaner. It's simpler, but I take Rodney's point because a lot of people feel validated and they feel good when they receive the pardon. We need to think about that too.