Independents from both houses of Parliament have urged Labor to stop blaming the Coalition for the decaying freedom of information system after the Senate voted to establish an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the former commissioner Leo Hardiman’s resignation earlier this year.
Independent MP for Goldstein and former journalist Zoe Daniel said the government needs to “take a good hard look” at its own record on FOI, after being in power for nearly a year and 30% of FOI requests are spilling over the statutory time limit.
“Every journalist in the country who has ever put in an FOI request will say — this is not news — the so-called freedom of information system has been the reverse for some time,” Daniel told Crikey.
“This government is not living up to the objects of its own legislation introduced when last in office establishing the positions of two assistant commissioners within the office of the information commissioner: the privacy commissioner and the FOI commissioner.”
The Senate will establish an inquiry into the delays that plague the FOI system, and the waning resourcing that led to Hardiman’s resignation less than a year into the job, after the Coalition and the crossbench united to wedge Labor on transparency.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge put the motion to the Senate on Tuesday, which passed despite opposition from Labor 43 votes to 19, and will see the Senate form a committee in early December.
Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall said it was hypocritical of the government to vote against the inquiry, when it centred so much of its criticism of the former Coalition government around secrecy.
“Now the shoe’s on the other foot and they are in government, and they are conducting themselves in a similar way. I know that they don’t like that comparison, but actions speak louder than words,” Steggall told Crikey.
“If you are going to continue abusing the FOI system in the same way it’s been abused for the last decade, then it is that same obtuseness and obstruction of accountability and transparency of government decision-making.”
The legal and constitutional affairs references committee inquiry will probe the circumstances that led to Hardiman leaving his post in March citing an inability to achieve the objectives of the legislation.
It will also investigate broader delays in the review of appeals with the information commissioner, the resourcing allocated to responding to FOI applications and reviews, and “the creation of a statutory timeframe for completion of reviews”.
Shoebridge said the broken state of the FOI system is known by everyone who has come into contact with it, and its decay was no accident under a Coalition government committed to secrecy.
“What’s really disappointing is that the new Albanese government has done nothing to fix the problems in FOI, and by refusing to increase funding, they have allowed matters to get even worse,” Shoebridge said.
Hardiman’s short-lived tenure offered a flashpoint for Australia’s worsening FOI infrastructure. In a LinkedIn post earlier this month, he said serious changes were required to ensure timely access to government-held information, but the power to implement those changes fell beyond his reach.
“I have come to the view that I will not be able, in the absence of those changes, to increase timeliness of IC reviews and access in a way which best promotes the objects of the FOI Act. I have accordingly decided the most appropriate course is to resign my appointment,” Hardiman said.
The departure was symbolic of a widely known resource void, former senator Rex Patrick told Crikey, rather than restrictions imposed upon him by the FOI Act.
Patrick has become a vital asset to independents on the upper and lower house crossbenches, who with hemmed staffing allocations have turned to the former senator for pro-bono political consulting services.
“I think [Labor] is developing an allergy to transparency. Transparency is a word that is only shouted from opposition benches. The government knows that the FOI system is broken,” Patrick said.
He said in opposing the inquiry the government was guilty of withholding resources from the statutory positions — the office of the Australian information commissioner, the privacy commissioner, and the FOI commissioner — Labor had itself created.
“This is a government that can fund a $368 billion submarine program, but can’t spend a few million dollars properly funding a critical transparency regime that exists for all Australians to get access to the information for which they have paid for.”
I was stunned by the government MPs’ ‘no’ vote on this issue. Their behaviour – on show for all Australia – was more revealing than an unflattering FOI report.
stunned, but sadly, not surprised – however I was surprised the LNP voted for it … a decision, should they ever return to government, that will come back to haunt them
Yes, with any luck…
Hypocrisy abounds in this passage of play……………
…………the Masters of Secrecy looking to wedge Labor on secrecy??
The enemy of my enemy etc…..
Nicely finessed by the crossbench.
They will turn back into the game keeper instead of the poacher.
With any luck, they will never return to government. The time is ripe for the ALP to admit that they are conservatives, and have an actual progressive force as their main opponents.
Excellent development. We have to be alive to the variety of ways this government will look to preserve the incredibly low benchmarks set by the Coalition governments. Patrick’s collaboration with the independents is inspired stuff and the nation owes him big time. THANK-YOU REX!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree about Patrick, but add that this enquiry is a result of a principled and intelligent crossbench. This FOI issue is a subset of the inegrity issue which such a resonant part of the Teal platform. The government mainstream responsible for AUKUS and the weak emissions control program is a timid sellout to undemocratic pressures, but I’m hoping Dreyfus will be able to carve out some respectable territory here, despite the party vote on the enquiry.
Yep. If you get a good independent candidate, vote for them.
Contrary to the initial “labor majority result; Nsw independants have Labour on the edge – they must move to responsibly govern for “us NOT them” – Them meaning the nefarious lobbists of big data corps, olligarchy class
After his long stint in the Bearpit; Shoebridge has an extensive experience of the sort of shenanigans Labor try on.
I should imagine he has few illusions of what Federal Labor are capable off. Especially one being continually pushed by the crossbench to deliver its “progressive” self.
I could not understand why the SA population didn’t send Rex Patrick back instead of Nick.
I guess most people don’t pay enough attention to realise just how critical his work was. Heaps had probably never heard of him.
Correct. If you relied on the MSM (including ‘our’ ABC) you would never know.
yeah – ABC was raided by neo liberals and theyre still there it seems .. seen the limp representatives most of who are trotted out weekly via The Drum or Q&A.. very sad irrespective of a few “young people” and token others…. very narrow debates – time older progressive and left women of lived experience … pathetic
Time as in given little time and consistently bellowed at or simply sidelined – Stan!
Exactly. It’s not as though the MSM, and News Corp in particular, was regularly providing glowing encomiums detailing his worthy exploits. I wonder why not.
Xenophon resigned in 2017 to contest the SA election and Patrick, his ex adviser was nominated to fill the vacancy.
He was not returned in 2022 and hence his term expired in June that year.
For all the people who, 10 months ago, celebrated the ousting of the Lib/Nat coalition and Albo’s election with a majority – this is a clear reminder that, for all its posturing, the ALP is in many ways, just like the coalition.
They are “coalition-lite”; the “I can’t believe it’s not the coalition” party.
Sadly, I agree. I had great hopes for a Whitlam-type resurgence with Labor. They have proved beyond doubt the corrupting influence of fossil fuel and dark money lobby groups, and the funding they provide. There needs to be some form of criminality and hard penalties invoked. I certainly wont wait for that miracle to happen.
I also had hopes for a Whitlam/Keating type of govt, with courage and imagination. Sadly, we have saddled ourselves with Mr Small Target. I thought he might be playing the long game but stuff like the refusal to address the FOI mess, and especially AUKUS, has put my faith on life-support.
There have been disappointing developments in recent weeks in a number of areas that make Labor look just like the coalition. The thing is there is no reason for them to do this. They seem to be afraid of their own shadow. Are they men or mice? Squeak up.
Has there been a change of Government? – I must have missed that. MSM are useless on news.
I don’t think MSM noticed, they are so far up the LNP’s arse.
No matter who you vote for, the government gets in.
And it’s usual accompaniment, “If voting could change anything, it would be illegal.”
Irrelevant is the start of the slippery slope.
So make damn sure we retain some level of oversight and accountability by voting in a strong crossbench and Senate.
(John Howard’s 3rd term proved that giving one of these mobs complete power is both dangerous and expensive.)
More like the rorts of billions left to kick in as Labor gets the poisoned chalice – and yes it seems the so called journos on most platforns play the politico insider lobbists’ cards – ie talking about strategy in campaigning and not about deeper policy ramifcations and how issues will be tackled by our so called solumn responsible elected officials
Couldn’t agree more. They have been most disappointing. I had expected we would get a truly open and progressive government with Labor this time, but alas, just LNP lite. Can understand the usual lobbyists pressure to some extent, but AUKUS? how absolutely STUPID. Stage 3 tax cuts? STUPID
With such a strong election win they were in a good position to show some courage and confidence to advance progressive policies. Instead we got a continuation of business as usual. The disgraceful treatment of whistle blowers is another example.
Yep if one settled for a cynical pov one might assume the 2 major parties are running a Cartel aka Coles/Woolies style swindle
I heard a commentator on Novara Live last week describe British Labor as Capitalisms B team. They are allowed to govern for short periods after the Torys have stuffed up.
Elsewhere I’ve read that the former Tanzanian Prime Minister Julius Nyerere said America is a one-party state, but with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.
I reckon both propositions apply to this neoliberal Labor rabble that calls itself a government.
Former ICAC judge Wheatley labels our system as the LibLab Cartel. Economist Gittings; the Duopoly.
With, frequently, a cigarette paper of difference between their policies, if not outright “bipartisan support”; its hard to argue with either of those two descriptions as both vested-interest owned parties chase the steadily diminishing Centre-Right vote.
great minds think alike – I just uttered what Gittings stated – Not by virtue of an accident but because of the facts
I had great hopes for an ALP minority government, but alas, they are proving to be just as arrogant in majority government as the Coalition was.
not as bad but need to be kept in line with voting blocks of others aka:Independents,Democratic socialist”,Greens and Wilkie – and tough left OLDER women who are creative and economically educated who are seasoned in life , and creative environmentally progressive youth representatives and indigenous
Gough is rolling in his grave bless him – he did more in 12 months for single mothers and where is the Arts policy and safety for ALL
This is another issue in which it is important to note the role of the public service. Some years ago, at a major Government conference, an APS Secretary level speaker gave an entire presentation on his view of problems with FOI, and how it influenced him to limit his written records and advice. What this creates is a series of records that are incomplete, and in which the basis of decisions are not recorded or explored. Then what you get is entire departments that are reticent to properly record decisions, actions and advice. This is why we need Royal Commissions to understand how some truly appalling things happened. It’s not just a transparency problem – its and administrative and managerial problem of the highest order.
Indeed – I was working in the Office of the Secretary at a major policy dept in the mid-1980s and recall one of the Dep Secs used to write his comments on Yellow Post-It Notes, so they could be removed if the document was subjected to FOI.
Yes, it will be very impressive if the inquiry can really get to the bottom of the issues. In a way, FoI is just part of a bigger problem of accountability. For a start, look at the verious reports in Australia and elsewhere of politicians, ministers and high-ranking officials deliberately conducting official business on unofficial messaging apps and personal email accounts. This not only renders FoI useless, it buggers-up the official archives, cripples any subsequent scrutiny or inquiry and can introduce serious security risks.
And then we call it ‘representative democracy’ and contrast it with authoritarian regimes as a justification for war.
yes absolutely – and in regard to data security what are they doing … They want all of ys to show our govt Id bona fides to companies – to further impale freedoms are relegate to the puppet master ruling elites running this increasing olligarhy
Howard’s politicisation of the PS was the start of the rot.
ALbanese arrived stating loudly, there is no need for massive change in the public service, nor an enquiry into the Australian media.
He is comfortable in his position pandering to the needs of his capitalist masters.
Class traitor.
yep Qld aborigines are cut off in floods while he cries to canera – he better straighten up and quick or sadly the less nuanced voters will turn back to the other weathy ratbag doing business with prison farms
yes and the gatekeeper keepers og getting a job within the public service is a company like Revellion – using balloon games to filter candidates ” skills – or a nee player with links to Halliburton – do the due dilligence it is truly scary the fools who are running our joints – who are not really at the wheel
Dreyfus has been very disappointing across a number of areas, including the refugees on Nauru, FOI, the Whistleblower Laws (Boyle and McBride cases), real time records of political donations – just for starters.
Add Julian Assange to the list.
yes – let him out and get a man with some real kahoonas to run the joint with a conscience and brave insights into how democracy and transparency are hard won
Why not say ‘spine’?
You probably meant ‘cojones‘ (pronounced ‘kahones’) a slang Mexican term for testes.
Kahoona is a corruption of ‘kahuna’ an Hawaiian word for ‘chief/big man’ (never mind that Hawaii was a matriarchy before being blessed with statehood by the USofAs) from a Gidget movie ca. 1957 about … who cares?
After a slow start Dreyfus seemed to be going quite well with the federal integrity commission; then he jumped into bed with Dutton, and together they buggered the poor thing by ganging up to rule out public hearings even when that is in the public interest.
Still, on the plus side, he might get it right with the AAT. Replacing the whole thing, rather than just fiddling about, was a necessary start.