Responding to the Attorney-General’s refusal to publish more than 5,500 submissions on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act, the Pirate Party has lodged a freedom of information for the release of those documents[1]. The refusal to release these documents has been referred to as “ironic” given the amendments were designed to improve freedom of speech in Australia[2]. In May this year the Attorney-General announced the Government was reconsidering the amendments[3].
Brendan Molloy, Councillor of the Pirate Party commented: “This is an unusual and overwhelming number of submissions. In our experience legislative inquiries and reviews are unlikely to reach 100 submissions. The fact that over 5,000 were received demonstrates an obviously enormous public interest in the legislation, and opposition must have been extreme for the Government to be so tight-lipped on these submissions. There is no decent reason why these submissions should not be made available to the public.”
“This Government has shown a worrying tendency against transparency in the ten months it has been elected. There has been a pattern of refusal to operate transparently, from refusing to release departmental briefs even after freedom of information requests were made[4] to the expansive and secretive scope of ‘Operation Sovereign Borders'[5]. The Government has refused to allow the Human Rights Commissioner to visit the detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island for the preposterous and bureaucratic reason that the Commission’s jurisdiction does not extend past Australia’s borders[6]. In addition to all of this, the appalling track record of the current and former governments has overburdened the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. It takes several months for the OAIC to review rejected freedom of information requests, and instead of providing more resources, the Abbott Government is axing it![7]”
Further to this, the Government has upheld the practice of negotiating trade agreements in secret until after they are signed. Most recently the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) was concluded with no public access to the text of the Agreement. Two Parliamentary Committees are currently examining the Agreement[8][9].
Last week a draft chapter of the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) was leaked, indicating that Australia is pursuing the negotiation of yet another secretive trade agreement[10]. The draft indicates TiSA will include investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions that will allow foreign corporations to pursue Australia in a private arbitration tribunal rather than through the public court system. ISDS provisions in an investment agreement with Hong Kong have led to tobacco company Philip Morris taking Australia to arbitration over tobacco plain packaging laws[11]. The Pirate Party continues to push for greater transparency in such negotiations, and increased involvement of interested members of the public.
Mr Molloy continued: “The negotiation of trade agreements and other treaties behind closed doors must end. It is entirely unreasonable for Australia to take on new obligations under international law without the citizens being given an opportunity to comment on the text while it is being negotiated. It’s simply not good enough for the public to be excluded until an agreement is finalised.”
“The effects of provisions such as ISDS are disturbing: almost any decision by a Government is open to be challenged if it negatively impacts a foreign corporation. In Australia there is the plain packaging issue and in Canada there have been disputes over the revocation of mining licences on public health and environmental grounds. There has been no demonstrated benefit of the inclusion of these provisions, and many examples of negative effects identified by the Productivity Commission[12]. The Pirate Party is totally opposed to such provisions.”
In order to improve transparency the Pirate Party has begun raising funds to pay the costs of having freedom of information requests fulfilled. If a government department does not assess the release of documents as being in the public interest it will impose a charge. The Pirate Party successfully met its initial target of $1,000 to pay for three freedom of information requests in under 24 hours.
The fundraiser will continue for another week and additional funds will be used for future requests. It is available at: http://www.pozible.com/project/183229
[1] https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/submissions_to_consultation_on_a
[2] https://newmatilda.com/2014/06/20/brandis-blocks-public-airing-free-speech-submissions
[3] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/25/outcry-forces-brandis-to-reconsider-racial-discrimination-act-changes
[4] http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott–government-accused-of-more-secrecy-over-foi-requests-20131108-2x5s0.html
[5] http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/03/06/training-lifeboats-and-asylum-seekers-in-the-battle-space/
[6] http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/human-rights-commission-boss-gillian-triggs-blocked-from-visiting-nauru-20140203-31xg6.html
[7] http://www.oaic.gov.au/news-and-events/statements/australian-governments-budget-decision-to-disband-oaic/australian-government-s-budget-decision-to-disband-oaic
[8] http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Treaties/13_May_2014
[9] http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/Korea-Australia_Free_Trade_Agreement
[10] http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/secret-deal-bank-freeforall-20140619-3ah2w.html
[11] http://www.ag.gov.au/tobaccoplainpackaging
[12] http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/study/trade-agreements/report