The Full Federal Court has rejected Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ argument that government ministers should be allowed to shred documents when they leave office. What’s the scam?
The scam is that Dreyfus shredded $300k+ of taxpayers’ finest on lawyers fighting for the right to shred documents paid for by the public which votes politicians into office.
1,697 days after then-Senator Rex Patrick submitted a Freedom of Information request into ‘Sports Rorts’ documents – advice provided to Scott Morrison that is about Bridget McKenzie’s role in the tainted rorts affair, the Federal Court has now conclusively rejected the argument that the former government was entitled to ‘shred’ it upon leaving office.
A Perfect Slime: Scott Morrison’s slippery Sports Rorts report just the fix for Bridget McKenzie
That Scott Morrison (and then-Attorney General Michaelia Cash) didn’t want the advice revealed was no surprise, but, after Labor took office in 2022 and Rex appealed the decision to suppress the advice, the government argued that politicians should not be made to release documents about to the previous government’s actions.
Mark Dreyfus fought tooth a nail to defend the proposition that changing ministers should allow governments to wipe the FOI slate clean, spending hundreds of thousands in legal fees in the process.
In March this year, Justice Charlesworth agreed with Rex and said: “Whether a document is an official document of a minister is to be assessed by reference to the facts and circumstances in existence at the time an FOI request is lodged, not some later review date after which the minister may have changed.” Dreyfus appealed, but today, the full bench of the Federal Court upheld the decision on appeal:
There could be no question that the Document met the description of an “official document of a Minister” at that time. [ ] Accordingly, the primary judge concluded that the Information Commissioner had proceeded on an erroneous construction of the FOI Act.
Rex Patrick’s Federal Court win a victory for transparency and a loss for government secrecy
And why did Dreyfus fight so hard to avoid the publication of a document related to the possible misdeeds of the LNP government? Simple, because he’d hope that one day, another government of the day will do the same for him.
It’s the party duopoly scam; I protect you if you protect me.
Kim Wingerei is a businessman turned writer and commentator. He is passionate about free speech, human rights, democracy and the politics of change. Originally from Norway, Kim has lived in Australia for 30 years. Author of ‘Why Democracy is Broken – A Blueprint for Change’.