The Canberra Liberals are calling for greater transparency in the ACT Government’s cabinet.
Party leader Elizabeth Lee has released an exposure draft for a bill to make ACT government cabinet documents publicly available within 30 business days of a cabinet decision.
Currently, cabinet materials in the ACT are released on Canberra Day, 10 years after the record’s submission date.
Ms Lee said given the scope of responsibilities of the ACT Government, there was no reason most cabinet documents should not be released to the public within 30 business days.
Ms Lee noted that New Zealand, a unicameral government like the ACT, introduced a similar policy in 2018 that ensured cabinet papers and minutes must be proactively released within 30 business days unless there was a good reason not to publish all or part of the material.
“Government must be open and transparent wherever possible,” Ms Lee said.
Chris Steel, ACT Special Minister of State, said the Government had only just seen the exposure bill, but would consider it closely.
“On first glance, there appear to be challenges in Ms Lee’s proposal that would need to be resolved,” Mr Steel said.
The ACT Government’s Parliamentary Agreement between Labor and the Greens commits to “increasing open and transparent access to government information, thereby reducing the need for Freedom of Information Act applications”.
Shane Rattenbury, leader of the ACT Greens, also said he would consider Ms Lee’s bill closely.
“The ACT Greens believe integrity and accountability in politics is vital to a healthy democracy,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Through the 9th Assembly, the ACT Greens brought some of the most advanced freedom of information legislation in the country to the ACT, with requirements for the ACT Government to proactively publish and disclose various government reports and information.
“As a result, minister briefs, question time briefs, estimates, annual reports briefs, and minister’s diaries will need to be published after five years. Previously, such information was only available through lengthy freedom of information requests.”
Ms Lee, however, claimed that the ACT Labor-Greens Government “routinely hide their failures and mismanagement from the public by refusing Freedom of Information requests on the grounds they contain cabinet material”.
“A culture of secrecy has been fostered under this Chief Minister and a government that has been in power for over 20 years,” Ms Lee claimed.
“This bill strikes the right balance between providing necessary transparency while also giving exemptions to documents deemed not in the public interest.
“In the ACT, we are a unicameral government with no upper house providing the necessary checks and balances, making it even more important these measures are in place.
“To simply hide behind a policy that says cabinet documents cannot be released for 10 years as a reason not to be upfront with Canberrans is not good enough.
“The Canberra Liberals believe in an open and transparent government, and we will continue to put forward policy that ensures the government of the day are held to account,” Ms Lee said.
