Inquiry needed as Barnett exposes government’s interference in RTI process

 Barnett releases RTI documents before Opposition receives them
 New Minister exposes government’s shocking interference in process
 Government’s RTI obstructions warrant Parliamentary Inquiry

The Hodgman Government’s latest Cabinet recruit Guy Barnett has laid bare rampant and on-going interference in the critical Right To Information process by publicly releasing documents before they were given to Labor which requested them.

Shadow Minister for Open Government and Information Integrity Madeleine Ogilvie said in the latest example of Ministers meddling in the RTI process, more than 800 documents relating to reports of mould infestations at the Royal Hobart Hospital were released on-line by Mr Barnett before they had been provided to the applicant, the Shadow Health Minister Rebecca White.

Ms Ogilvie said Minister Barnett had erred in law and made a serious political misjudgement by publicly releasing RTI documents via an electronic link, which were requested by Labor under the Assessed Disclosure provisions of section 13 of the Right to Information Act.

She said it was also clear that under section 18 of the Act, information provided must be given directly to the applicant, not to other parties and certainly not published online before receipt by the applicant.

“This shows the arrogance of the Hodgman Government and the absolute disregard for the applicant’s right to receive the information they have requested in an appropriate format before being made public,” Ms Ogilvie said.

“Clearly the Minister has been able to interfere in this important process by being provided with these documents and then publicly releasing them before the applicant had even seen them.

“The documents are not the property of the Minister to release, but are the property of the State and should only be able to be provided by the independent Right to Information Officer, whose decision it is to release the information.

“If there was no political interference by Mr Barnett, why was he talking about the documents well before they had even been received by the applicant?

“Mr Barnett has also breached the process by publicly identifying Ms White as the applicant when the government committed not to publish the identities of applicants when changes were made to the RTI process involving on-line publication in June last year.

“Labor has long suspected and raised concerns that there has been political interference in the RTI process and the release from the government late yesterday is further evidence of our concerns.

“It’s unacceptable that this Minister was clearly given access to these documents before the applicant and it’s unacceptable that they would then be released publicly, also before they had been received by the applicant.

“It makes no difference if an application under RTI comes from the Labor Opposition or a member of the media or a member of the public.

“Every application should be treated with respect and in confidence and should be free of obstruction and interference from Minister’s offices.

“This clear breach by Mr Barnett comes in the same week Labor has referred a number of RTI applications to the Ombudsman for follow up because they are overdue.

“In one instance an RTI response is 30 days overdue because the application was “incorrectly filed” by the Health Minister Michael Ferguson’s office.

“Recently we have had delays caused by documents needing to be “re-drafted” before release, which has added to our concern that the RTI process is being corrupted.

“There is now more than enough evidence that the government is treating the RTI process with such disdain that it warrants a Parliamentary inquiry.”
Madeleine Ogilvie MP Shadow Minister for Open Government and Information Integrity