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IN brief
- The proposed reforms had faced wide opposition from the Opposition, Greens and independents.
- The government had argued the reforms would have made it easier to reject vexatious and frivolous requests.
Strong opposition to proposed changes in the freedom of information (FOI) laws, which would have made it more difficult to obtain documents, has compelled the Labor party to retreat.
The suggested reforms encountered significant pushback from various quarters, including the Opposition, the Greens, independents, and organizations dedicated to transparency and integrity. These reforms aimed to prohibit anonymous requests, introduce new charges, and simplify the process of denying certain requests.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announced in the Senate that the bill would be withdrawn, citing insufficient support for its passage in its current state. To pass legislation in the upper house, the government requires backing from either the Greens or the Coalition.
“We are open to discussions and will continue to work on shaping the final version of these critical reforms. Our goal is to return to parliament with solutions to improve the FOI system,” she declared to the Senate.
Kieran Pender, associate legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, expressed relief over the bill’s withdrawal. He highlighted that the proposed changes could have compromised the public’s right to access information and weakened the overall system.
“And, in turn, weakened our democracy,” Pender said, calling on the government to now adopt an independent and comprehensive review of the laws.
Centre for Public Integrity executive director Catherine Williams backed that call for a comprehensive review, saying the system was in crisis due to extensive delays and increased secrecy, with it becoming harder for people to access information.
Opposition legal affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash described it as a “win for democracy”, and accused the government of being addicted to secrecy.
“The Coalition will never support the Albanese government silencing Australians,” Cash said.
Why did Labor want the laws changed?
Labor argued the laws needed to be updated as they hadn’t been reformed in decades, pointing to large and complex requests backing up the system and costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars.
The reforms would make it easier to reject vexatious and frivolous requests, the government said when revealing the proposed changes, arguing AI bots and potential criminal and foreign actors abusing the system were threatening its viability.
However, during a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, departments couldn’t produce evidence of AI bots or criminal or foreign actors using the system for nefarious purposes.
Greens senator David Shoebridge criticised the government’s lack of evidence to back up its accusations.
“The threat to the public’s right to know isn’t from Russian bots, it’s from the Labor cabinet.”
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