Page 357 - Week 02 - Thursday, 8 March 2007
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person’s reasons for requesting the information. So you cannot just say, “We are not going to give you information because we just know you are a trouble maker and you are just trying to make a political point,” or whatever it might be. That is explicitly ruled out as a reason for not giving the information, for not granting access.
I believe that this clause actually strengthens the decision-making process. It actually gives more explicit grounds for reaching a decision on this particular provision and it gives a more explicit framework for the tribunal, should review of the matter be sought, as to what the reasons were of the agency or minister involved. Those, in essence, are the changes. I know that Mr Speaker has raised some questions about review of a decision in relation to the exempting of a document. I am advised that that is covered, but I can provide him with further information on that.
At the end of the day, these provisions provide for a regime that protects information that needs to be protected where it is in the public interest to do so. They also give grounds for the more efficient working of the FOI Act without unduly limiting people’s access to information. The government is not operating in the same way as the commonwealth. I think it is unfair to draw that comparison. Our freedom of information regime is still considerably more liberal than the commonwealth regime and the government has no intention of mimicking in every respect either the operation or the administration of the commonwealth scheme.
Whilst it may be appropriate for members to raise concerns about whether that is a direction in which we will head, I can assure you that that is not the case and the day-to-day operation of the Freedom of Information Act bears this out. The overwhelming majority of freedom of information requests are expedited with minimal difficulty and little, if any, dispute. There will always be matters which are more contentious in any freedom of information regime, and ours is no different in that regard. There have been a number of matters more recently that have been sought review of because of decisions that have been made around the application of the act. That is as it should be and the government does not have a difficulty with the processes that are in place in dealing with those matters currently.
I commend this bill to members. Now that you are back in the chair, Mr Speaker, I know that you have raised particular provisions in relation to clause 37 and what I would like to do is to give you the courtesy of some further information on that that I think will satisfy your concerns. I foreshadow at this point that I will seek to adjourn this debate after the in-principle vote to allow that further information exchange to occur. The government will seek to resume this debate later this sitting day. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail stage
Clauses 1 to 6, by leave, taken together.
Debate (on motion by Mr Corbell) adjourned to a later hour.
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