In stonewalling a request from transparency warrior Rex Patrick, the Information Commissioner is punishing taxpayers too, writes Michael West.
The legal cost of the Information Commissioner’s fight in the Federal Court to ensure she can take forever to review government agencies’ Freedom of Information access refusals has blown out to more than half a million dollars.
At the beginning of August the cost was $301,000. The answer to a parliamentary question by Greens senator David Shoebridge shows that in just 60 days the amount skyrocketed by an additional $200,000. No-one knows where the costs will end up. And the Information Commissioner doesn’t have to care because it’s not her money, it’s from taxpayers.
Transparency Warrior and Michael West Media contributor Rex Patrick, has asked the Federal Court to order the Information Commissioner to immediately make decision in eight of the FOI reviews he initiated with the Information Commissioner, all but one more than two years stale. Delay is the enemy of FOI.
Patrick has described the situation as both improper and unfair. “It’s improper because the Information Commissioner should not be in court arguing that she can deny people the right of access to information by spending two or three years not deciding a matter”, he said.
“It’s unfair, because the government has clearly decided to fight this public interest case with a troupe of expensive lawyers in circumstances where I’ve only got a single instructing lawyer and a single barrister working on the case, pro bono. It’s a Goliath vs David situation, with Goliath armed to the teeth at taxpayers’ expense.”
When in opposition the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, deposed an affidavit in support of the Patrick case, but has continued to let the taxpayer bleed money.
Shoebridge commented: “The external legal costs are only part of it, significant staff time and resources will have also gone into pulling together the defence, swearing affidavits and instructing lawyers. Given the Commissioner’s complaints about funding, it is staggering that staff would be directed to defend this case instead of working to address FOI delays.”
In a recent letter to the Attorney-General, the Information Commissioner said her office was underfunded and revealed that in 2020-21, 667 FOI reviews were more than a year old.
Shoebridge said: “No wonder there are 667 FOI reviews more than a year old when the Information Commissioner, with the backing of the new Attorney-General, is spending hundreds of thousands in court defending the indefensible. Every one of these public dollars should have been spent doing the job of deciding FOI reviews, not feeding a private law firm.
“Extreme delays defeat the purpose of the Act- how can we hold the government accountable if we need to wait years for critical information?
“This case is emblematic of the failures of the FOI scheme – with all the delays, exclusions, legal costs and bureaucratic nonsense it’s more freedom from information than a serious FOI scheme.”
It’s time for the Attorney-General to step up and solve the problem, Patrick says.
Falk Lines: Information Commissioner fights for the right to hide information indefinitely, que?
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.