Parliamentary RTI Inquiry must be held after Ombudsman’s report

 Government refusing information release without reason
 Ombudsman says information refusals rarely based on evidence
 Government’s RTI obstructions warrant Parliamentary Inquiry
The Hodgman Liberal Government’s contempt for the Right To Information process must become the focus of a Parliamentary Inquiry after the State Ombudsman today revealed too many applications were being refused out of hand without legitimate reason.
Shadow Minister for Open Government and Information Integrity Madeleine Ogilvie renewed calls today for an Inquiry after the Ombudsman’s annual report specifically highlighted that the government is “too seldom making findings of fact based on evidence”.
“Labor has long suspected and raised concerns that there has been political interference in the RTI process and the fact that the Ombudsman believes too many applications are being refused without the evidence to support withholding information again highlights that,” Ms Ogilvie said.
“There have been clear recent examples that raise serious questions about whether RTI applications are being interfered with at a Ministerial level when there should never be political interference.
“This Liberal Government is ignoring the fact that documents sought under RTI are the property of the State – not the property of individual Ministers – and they should be assessed only by independent Right to Information Officers, no matter if the applications are from the Labor Opposition, a member of the media or a member of the public.
“In that regard, the Ombudsman has also highlighted the fact that there are not enough resources to offer training on the RTI Act despite a high level of inquiry, including from government departments. Unless resources are increased that training demand will not be addressed.
“With the release of the Ombudsman’s report, there is now more than enough evidence to proceed with a Parliamentary inquiry.”
Madeleine Ogilvie MP Shadow Minister for Open Government and Information Integrity