Freedom of Information Bill

Extract from Hansard

Legislative Council
13 March 2001

Sandra Kanck
Deputy Leader Australian Democrats
Member of the Legislative Council

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The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: I support the second reading of this very important piece of legislation introduced by my colleague the Hon. Ian Gilfillan. The free exchange of government information is the lifeblood of a functioning democracy and, without it, the effectiveness of the parliament is undermined. Without it, media analysis of government policies is impoverished and, without it, the people's ability to make an informed decision is denied. It is appropriate that the free flow of government information is enshrined in legislation but, unfortunately, in the hands of the Olsen government, the current Freedom of Information Act has become an Orwellian concept. Freedom from information better represents the Olsen government's views.

Its contempt for its democratic obligations is stitched into its soul. Our Premier now demands that his office vet all FOI requests, so the struggle to extract even relatively innocuous information is best described as tortuous. Real information requires an appeal to the Ombudsman and years of waiting, and I still await a determination by the Ombudsman as to whether EPA documents related to the 1996 Port Stanvac oil spill will be released to me.

As a further example of just how far this government is prepared to go in secrecy, I indicate that I took up an issue on behalf of a constituent of mine over a period of time, which ultimately resulted in the Minister for Human Services employing a former magistrate, Mr Jim Cramond, to review the matter. My name is even in the title. The title of the document is `A report to the Minister for Human Services in respect of concerns raised by the Hon. Sandra Kanck MLC on behalf of. . . ', and it names my constituent. I have not been able to get hold of that report.

When, it appears, the government did not get the right answer on that review, it paid for that same report to be further reviewed by the University of Western Australia, so there is another report, a review report for Family and Youth Services South Australia, and both of them relate to my constituent and the way this matter was handled. I have been knocked back by the department and it is now going through the Ombudsman. The whole matter was raised by me, the report has my name on it, yet I cannot get a copy of it.

The government's dismissive response to the Legislative Review Committee's report, tabled last October, only reinforces the need for this legislative overhaul of the Freedom of Information Act. Rather than respond in the required time, the Olsen government preferred to remain mute. It is just not good enough; hence this bill has my full support and I urge the rest of the Council to follow suit.