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Rees shields Parliament from new FOI laws
Thursday 25 June 2009
Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says the government's new freedom of information laws, which passed through the NSW Upper House late last night, are tarnished by their failure to subject parliament to freedom of information requests as recommended by the NSW Ombudsman and seen in the UK, Ireland, Scotland, India and South Africa.
"Premier Nathan Rees says he wants to open up his government but he has locked the gate at Macquarie Street, ruining what should be a good news story," Ms Rhiannon said.
"The public will still be barred from scrutinising how the $123 million annual budget for NSW Parliament, with over $1000 on 'members support' is spent.
"The Premier hoped these new FOI laws would signal a new era of openness but the exclusion of NSW Parliament signals that NSW Labor's love affair with secrecy continues.
"MPs' pay and how they spend their generous perks and travel allowances will remain a state secret, despite the Premier's claims that 'the days of a secret state are over'.
The Open Government Information Bill 2009 is now law. The Greens amendments to subject parliament to FOI, and others designed to strengthen the Act, were voted down by the Government and the Opposition.
"By rejecting the Ombudsman's recommendation that NSW Parliament be caught by FOI the Premier has shown he is unable to break with the past.
"The government's reasons for why parliament should be excluded do not stack up.
"The most ludicrous argument put forward for why FOI laws should not cover parliament is that enough information is released already. Just late last year the government moved to further water down scrutiny of how MPs' allowances are spent.
"It is only leaks and bolshie journalists that have resulted in MPs rorts being uncovered over the years. These scandals have not been found in publicly available information.
"Open government goes against the grain of NSW Labor, which still uses spin and secrecy to hold onto power.
"Now these new laws are on the books the real test will be how the government makes them work on the ground," Ms Rhiannon said.
The Greens won amendments to ensure searches for documents are conducted efficiently, for example information is retrieved electronically not through papers searches, to reduce the potential costs to applicants. Other Greens amendments sought to:
· strengthen the Act's objects clause
· subject information now caught by a blanket FOI exemption to a public interest test
· narrow the government's broad definition of cabinet documents excluded from FOI
· reduce the new lengthier time frames for dealing with FOI requests
· allow the Information Commissioner to ensure government agencies comply with the Act.
For more information: 9230 3551, 0427 861 568
