House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-30 Daily Xml

Contents

Freedom of Information

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): Supplementary, sir: will the Attorney-General advise the house what FOIs have been interfered with by the government as referred to by Mr Bingham in his report in May?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:37): Before I—he is very distracting with that thing. I think I explained this before. We do not actually have any particular examples about what it was that the Ombudsman was on about. It was more of a—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, it just appeared to be a Dennis Denuto sort of moment, the vibe, you know, and so—

Mr Marshall: A Dennis Denuto moment, seriously? And you're the Attorney-General!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Well, did you like him more than Bud Tingwell? What did you think? Anyway, the point is basically this: there is no particularity given about these matters. We do not believe that there is a culture of interference in FOI matters.

Ms Chapman: How do you know if you've never asked?

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader—

The Hon. J.R. RAU: She is, as usual, offering helpful tips.

The SPEAKER: No. If the deputy leader interjects once more, I am afraid she will have to leave us. She already has a second warning.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Realistically, it is not possible for me to physically go around and visit every single person in the Public Service and say, 'Are you misbehaving with FOI?' I am not capable of doing that, but can I say this: I have continuing meetings with Commissioner Lander. I am interested in any suggestion that Commissioner Lander might make about how we can improve matters. In fact, as recently as yesterday, I had a chat with Commissioner Lander about a number of matters emerging from the body of his report—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I know, but I thought I would canvass broader issues with the commissioner.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: There were a whole range of matters which were raised in the commissioner's report which warrant further discussion, and that further discussion is occurring about that and these matters.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I would be reluctant to send the member for Bragg out on the member for Davenport's last day. Supplementary?