Independent politicians have turned to former independent senator Rex Patrick for pro-bono political consulting services, as staff allowance cuts leave them short on the support required to extract documents from Labor and play a “proactive” role in Parliament.
The self-described “transparency warrior” has cut an indispensable figure during recent months, becoming a go-to undertaker of high-volume freedom of information requests in the policy areas of interest to several independent members and their staff.
The effort, which Patrick calls “Project Argus”, came about after wealthy businessman Ian Melrose — who was responsible for bankrolling Nick Xenophon’s Senate bid in 2016 — approached Patrick after an unsuccessful repeat federal election bid last year.
Patrick enlisted his former senior political adviser, Dr Philip Dorling, for part-time help, before taking the pitch to independent crossbenchers later in the year. Now the pair hope to “stir the political pot” to help independents starved of resources get on to the front foot in policy debates and deliver “better public policy” outcomes for their constituents.
The project secured its first piece of material intel last week, when inquiries related to the government’s reported pleas to the White House for Julian Assange’s return to Australia came up empty, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s promises to the contrary.
Patrick said the initial request was made after independent MP Monique Ryan asked Albanese whether Australians could expect Labor to commit to government intervention to secure Assange’s return.
“We saw her do what she did, and we went, ‘You know what, there are some interesting FOIs we could do around that,’” Patrick said.
Requests are generally initiated in four ways, he said. First is a direct request by a member or one of their staff, with a clearly defined scope. The second usually follows a conversation with a member who has outlined a general area of interest, to which Patrick and Dorling offer advice on the best approach. The third typically sees Patrick and Dorling observe business of the day and initiate requests, bringing items to the attention of MPs as and when their efforts begin to get a return. The final category is pure fishing, firing off requests based on what they might think could bear the most fruit.
So far, Patrick said he has had discussions with most independents and has developed close working relationships with those who, like him, have made transparency central to their political platforms.
Senator Jacqui Lambie and independent MP Zali Steggall have shown a keen interest, he said, and Ryan was one of the earliest beneficiaries.
“[Another] example is where there have been some defence ones that I’ve submitted, that we think might be useful to Jacqui, because she had indicated to us that she’s interested in pursuing some more defence procurement-related stuff,” Patrick said. “So she doesn’t know about some of the FOIs that we’ve put in — we’ll just see if they yield a result.”
Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie said the services are crucial to the crossbench’s ability to hold the government accountable.
“It’s the sort of work that I think the Australian community expects the crossbench to do,” she said. “I don’t have the capacity or resources to do that work, so it’s really helpful to me, particularly in relation to the Murray Darling Basin plan — it’s such a complex and opaque system.”
What a loss for the Senate this guy was, specially when you look at some of the drongos who do get in.
Fantastic to see Rex still involved and doing great work though – a true Local Hero.
If he ever calls out for financial help, I will be there with some of my hard-earned…
Huge respect for Dr Mon too in her efforts to get some real help for Assange – Albanese, Dreyfus and Wong are all looking very shabby in their diplomatic efforts…all too gutless to stand up to the US bullies.
The FOI system is a mess … because it exists.
I’m not going to win many friends from pro-open government types, but lets think about where the system has taken us:
Take this article in question – some will think they are really clever in getting to the “truth ” of the government’s actions regarding Asange. But now think of the counterfactual – if every effort, communication, or exploration for action will be FoI’ed before a deal is struck, that will only derail any actual progress. I do not trust the media to get this right – every day there are new “tests” for a government, new partisan combat to cover, every micro-step judged with rarely the wider context portrayed.
All of the points you mention are nothing to do with Freedom of Information………..
…….rather the result of nine years of ideological bastardry imposed by the Coalition.
I’d prefer if you had critiqued the actual points I made – all I can say in response is that the issues with the Coalition were a parallel and exacerbating issues.
All the points you made are a direct result of Morrison’s “advice” to the Public Service………………..
“You are meant to be an enabler of government policy not an obstacle”
(August 2019)
In other words, “Frank & Fearless Advice” is stone dead.
Morrison was merely enunciating the long-held belief of the LNP.
You’re right about that, but you are completely wrong in all the reasons you give. Astonishingly wrong. It is a remarkable achievement to be quite so utterly wrong, and you might be more comfortable living under one of those governments that does not even pretend to be accountable to anyone else and so presumably delivers so much more for its people.
FOI should be wholly unnecessary because all government departments should release or publish all their records and data as a matter of course, except for anything that for good reasons must be kept confidential or secret, although the secret stuff too will of course be released at some later date when no harm can be done. Then FOI would be redundant, because there would by definition be nothing left to winkle out of the government, and there would be no more of these arguments and no more waste of time and resources on resolving them.
It is sometimes wise to think before speaking, and this rule applies to governments as well. Take the current Voice “debate”, a generational reform that is stalling because the media is irrationality amplifying it’s opponents. Perhaps it would have been better to announce nothing until a complete package was ready?
I am concerned about all the great ideas, or difficult decisions, that wouldn’t go ahead due to premature disclosure. Even a public servant looking at something would be enough to muster an Opposition or special interest groups before it could go anywhere.
I’m not sure what you are after, a government that is too fearful of doing anything?
This is an excellent development. The loss of Patrick from the Senate was the biggest disappointment of the election.
The government could have chosen to respect many Australians’ increasing desire for community-based representation and found an innovative and affordable way to resource the community independents but it chose not to do so.
Furthermore, although I am very grateful for the NACC that we have, it is compromised and this government is not proving to be as transparent as it claimed it would be (surprise, surprise).
So, great to see Patrick and the independents take the bull by the horns, collaborate and empower themselves with this innovative arrangement.
It’s a sad indictment on what the Labor Party has become when they choose to give the LNP credence by dealing with them, rather than taking the mood of the nation and bringing the Teals on board………….
…………are they telling us they no longer believe in the overwhelming Teal propositions?
Transparency………..
Action on Climate Change……………….
A Federal ICAC with teeth……………….
Action on gross inequality……………….
Seems they’d rather grovel in the gutter with the rancid slime that comprises the LNP.
Political Looney Toons Theatre :-
going at it hammer, anvil, TNT and tongs during ‘working hours’ (for the benefit of ‘the flock’) – but come the end of their shift, it’s like the sheep-dog and Wylie Coyote /Wolf at the bundy….
“Nite Ralph.” : “Nite Sam”
… “… Which cartoon character has earned your vote?”
By the time Labor get around to helping Assange he will have died of old age.
Dropping charges against Bernard Colaery was Labor’s one token effort at justice for the innocent.
Whistle blowers, or as for witness K, people who simply highlight government mischief, will be dragged through the mud for eternity by any government.
Labor is no better than the coalition.
Some will say ‘Many micro parties are little known, have questionable experience of how to govern themselves and sometimes try to trick voters to vote for them by hiding their true agenda. Their candidates often lack the experience and skills required to be an effective parliamentarian. I still believe that having too many independent and micro party representatives could inevitably lead to a dysfunctional parliament.”
But in Britain’s case, those ‘effective parliamentarians” not only gave it Brexit but are demonstrating spectacular cynicism and incompetence. Like the ilLiberal Party here, they show little ability in governing themselves and consistently try to trick voters to vote for them by hiding their true agenda.
Senator Patrick is doing great work. So are the teals who recognise the need and value of such work.
… From the senate to “a go-to undertaker…”?
… Here’s hoping he can bury a few overdone reputations….