Page 3651 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 27 October 2015
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government in Australia to make available a business case for this sort of project. That is the sort of transparency you do not see in any other jurisdiction and the sort of transparency you have seen from this government.
I think that there is always room for improvement, and there are probably times when I have disagreed with some things not being released as well, but the bottom line certainly is that in my position as a Greens minister I am committed to being as transparent as I can be with government information. As corrections minister, I find this very challenging at times. Incidents happen in the prison and the media has a great interest in them, and the opposition has a great interest in them, and I am keen to release information but we are also given advice about being constrained by not releasing personal details about people. This is something that applies in the Health portfolio as well, and I know ministers find this very challenging. I have had discussions with other ministers about it.
There are times when, through protection of personal information or personal circumstances, we are not able to release information. And the void actually allows everybody else to speculate and make wild accusations, and that is something that I find very challenging as a minister. They are areas where I continue to work with my directorates to try to find ways to make more information available without breaching some of the personal right to privacy and to not having people’s personal circumstances dragged through the media. It is something the opposition seem often very comfortable with but about which those of us with ministerial responsibility have different and higher levels of responsibility than those opposite.
I am happy to discuss the issue of transparency. I think there is room for constant and further discussion on this. There is room for improvement. And I look forward to a very constructive and supportive conversation with the Liberal Party when I bring forward my freedom of information legislation in the coming months.
MR DOSZPOT (Molonglo) (4.28): I particularly welcome the opportunity to speak on this MPI—namely, the importance of government transparency in the ACT—that has been brought on for debate by my colleague Mr Hanson. The MPI highlights a growing problem in the ACT, and that is one of arrogance and ineptitude, brought about by a government that believes it is in power forever, a government that believes it does not need to listen to the community, a government that does not need to explain decisions or lack of decisions, and a government that does not accept that it needs to justify and explain whatever policy, charge or impost it dumps on ACT electors.
We have heard the regular and smug taunts of the current Chief Minister, who, when he cannot think of anything of substance to say, responds in debates by falling back on his common line, that the Canberra Liberals raise issues and criticise government policy only because they are not in power. I want to know what his excuse is, because he is in power, and of course he just does not fess up on issues on which he should.
One instance that comes to mind, a personal one, when considering just how unaccountable this government is, is again about Mr Barr. Neither Mr Barr nor Mr Rattenbury, whom this next part will very much apply to, is here. Mr Barr who, a
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