MPs blast potential legal bill for FOI request
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has been asked to stop an “unprecedented and existential threat” to Australia’s freedom of information system amid demands to know where nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines may be stored.
The government called for the release to be blocked following a successful request by former Senator Rex Patrick to see a report on plans for the toxic substance.
In an extraordinary move, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources asked the federal court to pay Mr Patrick’s costs, estimated at up to $150,000, if he wins the appeal.
“Are we seeing yet another nail in the coffin of what remains of freedom of information and government transparency?” Mr. Patrick wrote about the objection when he learned of it.
The move, which Mr Patrick described as “very rare”, sparked widespread backlash both inside and outside the parliament house, including from an unlikely alliance of parliamentarians across the political spectrum.
Pauline Hanson, David Pocock, Andrew Wilkie, Lidia Thorpe, Ralph Babet, Jacqui Lambie and David Shoebridge are among 18 MPs and senators asking Ms Rowland to intervene.
“It is clear to us that this is an attack on our Freedom of Information regime to deter Australians from seeking access to information.” they wrote.
“It is deeply unfair to drag an ordinary citizen, who is self-represented and under threat of costs, into debating legal issues raised by the government.
“We ask you to intervene by agreeing to cover Mr Patrick’s costs and not seek costs if the Government is successful.”
A similar letter to Ms. Rowland from nine civil society groups is backed by the journalists union, Transparency International, the Human Rights Law Center and others.
Mr Patrick believes the government is overreacting to the sensitivity of landfills.
“It is clear that the documents the government has been ordered to make public are politically sensitive,” he said.
“They may be politically radioactive, but that is not an acceptable reason to refuse to release documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
“I hope the Attorney General will intervene. It is in the public interest for him to do so.”
The episode follows a failed effort to reform Australia’s FOI laws earlier this parliamentary term.
In March the government withdrew plans to introduce fees for FOI requests, expand the types of documents counted as off-limits and extend permitted response times.
While the government argues that the system is burdensome and broken, applicants are routinely frustrated; A recent study by the audit office found that only 43 percent of requests resulted in the disclosure of information.
