Page 4644 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
As a government we are taking a broad approach to enhance the openness of the way we govern, encompassing transparency, participation and collaboration.
Yesterday the Attorney-General refused to table in this Assembly government figures that he has used to publicly assert that it would cost one-third of private landlords up to $20,000 to achieve a three-star EER and that it would cost the government more than $200 million to upgrade public housing to a three-star EER. Chief Minister, is the attorney’s decision not to table these figures consistent with your and the government’s commitment to transparency, participation and collaboration?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Ms Hunter for the question. I think the answer provided by the Attorney-General yesterday was that that information was being collated for the purposes of advice to the government on a Greens bill. The issue of openness and transparency and information in government—I am sure all members will have been to the open government website—is about providing information that the government has, including datasets, FOI applications, government reports and information that the government has commissioned, available on a website and for the community.
I do not think there would be any reason, once the government has considered the Greens’ bill, that that information will not be made public. I imagine that would be very in line with the attorney’s thinking at the right point in time to support the arguments that will be had in this place. But certainly the view of the government is that for reports that we commission and datasets that we own we are making that information available to the community for their use.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Ms Hunter.
MS HUNTER: Chief Minister, will you direct the attorney to table the figures that he is relying on to publicly make these assertions?
MS GALLAGHER: Again, I was not in the chamber for the whole of that discussion yesterday but I do understand that the attorney said he would make that information available. But at this point in time that information is being used to support government decision making around this bill.
The information that we are putting out on the open government website is being made available. The FOIs are being made available 15 days after they have been provided to the applicant, as is, I think, the standard. Many of the reports that have been provided are being provided after adequate cabinet consideration. The cabinet summaries that have been provided, again, are provided after the meetings have been held, two weeks following that time.
It is not just a free-for-all of putting up all this information immediately or on a day that someone requests it. There is a process that we have established around providing this information in an orderly time. I imagine that, as the attorney said, at the right time, once cabinet has considered all of that information, that information will be made public.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video