Police and tabouli: it's time for FOI reform

The Greens FOI bill will be debated in parliament tomorrow.

"The government will be embarrassed by NSW Police's bankrupt response to this FOI request which proves that the NSW Ombudsman is right to have singled the force out for special criticism in recent years," Ms Rhiannon said.

 "The NSW Ombudsman has previously found the FOI unit of NSW Police to be understaffed and failing to meet FOI timeframes for release of information, despite a sharp rise in the number of applications received over recent years.
 
"NSW Police has made itself a laughing stock by refusing to release this information on the grounds that it could adversely impact on local food outlets.

 "The police and tabouli case is in itself amusing, but the state of NSW FOI laws and how they are being administered is not.

"This example is typical of the trends identified by the NSW Ombudsman of government agencies overusing or misusing exemption clauses to deny applications.

"Journalists, community groups and individuals are being increasingly stymied in their attempts to access government-held information which should rightfully be in public hands and is critical to holding the government to account.

"For over a decade the NSW Ombudsman has been calling for a review of NSW FOI law and the government has ignored his alarm bells about downward trends in the release of information under FOI.

"Premier Iemma needs to take a lead on this issue by admitting there is an unacceptable culture of secrecy in the NSW government. The Premier must demand agencies turn over a new leaf and take FOI and the release of government-held information seriously.

"The Greens want to see an end to 'secrecy creep' that has led to poor information habits becoming entrenched in the NSW bureaucracy.

 "We ask the major parties to support our private members bill, to be debated in NSW Parliament tomorrow, seeking a comprehensive, independent review of NSW freedom of information laws," Ms Rhiannon said.