Page 5291 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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secrecy goes, and particularly to the Government itself. The protection of a government and government officers in this manner is totally out of hand.
I think it is most important that this issue be considered carefully. I think it is appropriate that Mr Berry has brought it up. However, we are clearly in difficulties. I see people running around trying to consider whether or not they can find a compromise. I think the appropriate thing to do in this case is to go with the legislation that has been rushed through and put it through at this stage, but it really needs careful reconsideration and certainly needs discussion between members of the Government and other members in this house.
At this stage I am not going to oppose this particular clause, and the reason I am not opposing it is that the highest priority in the short term is the confidentiality of those documents. However, it is most important that we consider this clause very carefully and we understand the ramifications of this clause and the secrecy as it applies across all government departments. This kind of secrecy provides a situation that does not best serve the community, and it is incumbent upon us to do our best to ensure that we can run an open government. Almost every party that went to the last election of this Assembly with a platform actually had a platform of more openness in government, and I think it is important for us to look for ways to make sure we achieve this - not just with reference to this legislation, but in other places where this sort of legislation appears as well.
MR CONNOLLY (10.14): I rise to support Mr Berry on this point. It is a very important point that Mr Berry has raised on this secrecy provision. The Government could answer that this secrecy provision is modelled on secrecy provisions found in other ACT legislation or, indeed, other Commonwealth legislation, but - - -
Mr Humphries: In State legislation.
MR CONNOLLY: There are similar provisions in Commonwealth legislation and, as the Minister says, there are similar provisions in State legislation; but the point that Mr Berry made was that we really should be looking at whether this is necessary. We should be looking to the Privacy Commissioner to advise on whether this form of secrecy provision, though a common form, is still appropriate. An important point to be made is that all of those precedents that we keep repeating as secrecy provisions can be traced back to an era of government before FOI legislation, before concepts of privacy were regarded as important, to an era when all government decisions were made behind closed doors, and all government documentations were regarded as sacred tablets, never to be released to the public.
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