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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 2 Hansard (29 February) . . Page.. 355 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

number than that, 45.6 per cent of requests, resulted in a full release of documents, and that that left only 9.7 per cent of requests that were dealt with other than by full or partial release, generally by refusal or in some cases by withdrawal of a claim.

Let us be clear about this. In 90.3 per cent of requests, the Carnell Government released information in full or in part as requested by the person seeking the information. Let us compare that with the performance of the previous Labor Government in their last year in office, 1994-95. In that year 41.1 per cent of requests were met with full release. Bear in mind that we got 45.6 per cent in 1998-99, a rather better record, I would have thought, for the present Carnell Liberal Government.

But let us look at those requests that were met with only partial success. The Follett Government released only 26.6 per cent of its documents on the basis of partial release. Under the final year of the Labor Government only 67.7 per cent of requests were met with either full or partial release, compared with 90.3 per cent under this Government. Turning it the other way around, the Liberal Government has declined altogether to release information in 6.3 per cent of cases, half of the figure under the Follett Labor Government of 11.1 per cent.

But that is not the full story. I can understand why half your colleagues are deserting you to go and sit on the benches, Mr Corbell. I would be a bit embarrassed as well.

Mr Corbell: No, they are bored.

MR HUMPHRIES: I would be bored with the facts as well. Back in 1992 I introduced a Bill into this place to require that FOI applications be processed within 30 or 45 days, depending on the sort of request it was. Under the Labor Government, in the first full year of the operation of that legislation a staggering 44 per cent of requests, almost one in two requests, were processed outside the statutory timeframes required by the legislation.

Mr Smyth: Secretive and slow.

MR HUMPHRIES: Secretive and slow, and in breach of the law. The law required the release of the documents within 30 or 45 days and, lo and behold, the Labor Government of the day broke the law. We have had serious consequences flow to us in recent days from claims that we have broken the law, have we not, Mr Speaker? Let us compare the 44 per cent of requests outside the timeframe in Labor's first year of operation of the new laws with the last financial year for which figures are available. In that period only 5.1 per cent were not processed under the Liberal Government within the timeframe provided for by the legislation.

Of course, the other major difference between FOI under this Government and under the previous Government is that under your Government it cost you a motzer to seek access to the information in the first place, because you charged very substantial fees to those people who had the audacity to put forward requests for freedom of information.

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