Pirate Party Australia are furious at the Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, who has recently announced plans for legislation that would make the spending of public money by parliamentarians totally exempt from Freedom of Information applications.
In a move that would further remove politicians and government departments from any form of accountability, is considering a bill that would deny access to the expenditure of MPs.
This comes after the disclosure of Speaker Peter Slipper’s expenditure under the Freedom of Information Act[1]. The Attorney-General announced that the Government considered the disclosure of Slipper’s expenses to be an “anomaly”.
“It is typical of our representatives to propose undemocratic legislation that hides their own incompetence and regular abuse of public money,” said Brendan Molloy, Party Secretary. “A Government who would limit the availability of information to the Information Commissioner is a Government with something to hide, and we won’t stand for it.”