The 4350water Blog highlights some of the issues relating to proposals for potable reuse in Toowoomba and South East Qld. 4350water blog looks at related political issues as well.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Queenslanders urged to have say on FOI ...

Read the Discussion Paper here - FOI review discussion paper.

posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 1:53 PM

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Courier Mail:

Experts attack Cabinet secrecy rule

January 30, 2008

A REVIEW of Queensland's Freedom of Information laws has savaged the Cabinet exemption rule frequently used by ministers to hide embarrassing material.

In a discussion paper released yesterday, an expert review panel found the Cabinet exemption rule was undermining the state's entire FOI regime.

The 214-page discussion paper, written by review panel head and former Courier-Mail journalist David Solomon, said it was unacceptable that legislative amendments now allowed ministers to freely hide documents that had nothing to do with Cabinet decisions.

"Whatever the intentions of the various amendments, it is difficult to justify, by reference to the purpose of the Cabinet exemption, a scheme that allows ministers to take documents into the Cabinet room for no purpose other to avoid them being accessible through FOI," the paper said. "The very existence of this bolt hole sends the wrong message to public servants about the desirability of openness."

The paper raised the possibility of lifting the 30-year veil of secrecy surrounding Cabinet documents where material was in the public interest or contained statistical material.

Premier Anna Bligh was recently criticised for abusing the Cabinet exemption just weeks after establishing the FOI review and promising a new era of openness and accountability.

Coalition Leader Lawrence Springborg labelled Ms Bligh a hypocrite after she took briefing notes she received from her department to Cabinet to thwart his FOI application.

The Premier defended her decision at the time, saying the briefing notes were never meant for the Opposition's consumption.

The review paper raised numerous issues with the FOI Act and how it was applied. These included the role of the Information Commissioner, public sector culture, commercial-in-confidence exemptions and the cost of applications.

It also raises the prospect of altering the Act's name because it was constantly being disparaged as "freedom from information".

Ms Bligh welcomed the report, saying Queensland's FOI system was as good as other states but she wanted greater accessibility.

"The challenge is to deliver on that commitment without compromising personal privacy or essential government functions," she said.

Mr Springborg said he hoped the Government would finally be sparked into action after years of ignoring an existing blueprint for FOI reform.

12:21 AM, January 31, 2008

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you really want to put Bligh and Nosworthy's knickers in a knot, do a FOI request for the agreements with Veolia. There are things in there they don't want the public to see.

1:04 PM, January 31, 2008

 

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