Shouted down by common sense. The end of Albo’s secrecy bill?

This entrenches and expands government secrecy and contradicts Anthony Albanese’s promise of transparency when in opposition. I hope the FOI Amendment Bill is dead, Rex Patrick reports.

It seems ‘transparency’ is just a word shouted from the opposition benches, and moves were being made to scrap the FOI Amendment Bill in the non-government corridors of Parliament House in the final sitting week of last year. He was a Bill without friends. Everyone was against it; Opposition, Greens, Cross bench and non-governmental organisations.

Before rejecting the bill, a motion had been drafted to debate the bill for several hours on the last sitting day to ensure everyone understood that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was being a jerk to the Australian people. But the movement hit a snag.

The Greens who opposed the FOI Amendment Bill could not agree to spend time debating and scrapping it because they were working with the Government to amend and pass the EPBC Act Reform package. When you agree a bill with the government, a normal condition of the agreement is that you support it getting through the Senate chamber.

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But the FOI Amendment Bill will die a short and sharp death, if not today then probably this week.

Senate committee report

While Parliament was on Christmas recess, the Senate Committee examining the FOI Bill circulated its report, with Labor senators Jana Stewart, Helen Polley, Dorinda Cox, Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Varun Ghosh selling out their voters to support the party line.

All other participants in the investigation opposed the bill.

The coalition opposition stated the following in its report:

“The Government’s proposed changes to this Bill are not to the liking of the Coalition. They will undermine confidence in the system and undermine the ability of governments to be accountable. Freedom of Information is not a privilege granted by the government. It is a right owed to every Australian citizen.”

The Greens were also clear in their opposition.

“Despite near-universal agreement that information system freedom needs reform, not a single person outside government supports this bill. It’s time to give up on it altogether and go back to the drawing board.”

Both Senator David Pocock and Senator Lambie opposed the bill and called for it to be “removed from the Bill”.

MWM He wrote extensively about the bill.

This is very surprising. This is a ‘right to know’ just as ICE is a ‘right to protest’.

FOI amendment bill. Transparency counter-revolution.

Release from Paper

The normal process for a bill in the Senate is as follows.

First, a bill was introduced; It is sent to a Senate Committee for ‘first reading’ and, in most cases, investigation. The inquiry allows individuals and organizations to put forward their views to influence senators on what changes should be made to the bill and whether they should be supported or opposed.

Once the committee has reported back, a ‘second reading’ occurs, where any senators who wish to speak about the bill are given the opportunity to do so. After the second reading stage, a vote is taken and, in rare cases, the life of a Bill is brought to an end.

The ‘third reading’ or ‘committee of the whole’ stage is a Q&A session held in the Senate chamber, where the relevant minister attends to answer any senator’s questions about the Bill. Ministry staff preparing the legislation and officials from the relevant Government department sit in the advisor’s box at the front of the Chamber to assist the minister.

Amendments are also considered at the ‘third reading’ stage before a vote on completion of the ‘third reading’ stage is allowed to pass into law or reject it.

Issuing an Invoice from the Statement Paper disrupts this process and is a rare occurrence. It has the effect of saying, “Debating this bill is a waste of the Senate’s time.”

payman movement

The notice sheet, which will be voted on at around 15:30 today, includes a motion to remove the FOI Amendment Bill from the Notice Paper. This proposal, put forward by Senator Fatima Payman, is sponsored by Senator Lambie and Senator David Pocock.

As of last night, Senator Payman had no support for the motion from the Coalition or the Greens, but this is not surprising considering the Coalition is in disarray and this is the first routine sitting day of the year.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. But one way or another, the Bill will be consigned to the legislative dustbin.

Parliament has played its part in protecting our democratic right to ensure that citizens have access to information that will help us participate in Government and form views on its performance.

Shame on you Albo! As Senator Lambie reminded us in his opposition report to the bill on 27 December 2019, Albanese, as opposition leader, told the Chifley Research Center Conference in Sydney:

“We don’t need a culture of secrecy. We need a culture of disclosure…. Reform freedom of information laws so they can’t be broken by the government. Current delays, hurdles, costs, and exemptions make it easier for the government to hide information from the public. This is not right.”

“Where is Anthony Albanese?

We want him back, not Anthony Albanese, who signed this bill.

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Rex Patrick is a former South Australian Senator and formerly a submariner in the armed forces. Known as an anti-corruption and transparency warrior, Rex is also known as “Transparency Warrior“