Premier misleading Tasmanians on Tamar Valley Power Station sale documents

 Document at centre of summons is not Cabinet in Confidence
 Unprecedented situation requires the Treasurer’s cooperation
 Hodgman Government determined to keep advice hidden

Premier Will Hodgman has strongly indicated today (Friday) that his government will not cooperate with a summons to produce documentation to the Public Accounts Committee by falsely claiming he is bound by Cabinet confidentiality.

Shadow Open Government Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said the document the PAC was seeking – correspondence between the Treasurer and Energy Minister Matthew Groom – was not Cabinet in Confidence.

“The Premier is attempting to hide behind a totally misleading excuse, just as his government has determinedly and deliberately kept this crucial document hidden for the past year,” Ms Ogilvie said.

“This document is very, very important to help the Committee and all Tasmanians understand what happened in the lead up to and during the energy crisis around the government’s proposed sale of the Tamar Valley Power Station.

“Tasmanians want to know what the government has to hide. The PAC needs to be able to understand what advice the Treasurer and Minister received and what action they took after receiving that advice.

“We are in an unprecedented situation where the PAC has had to use a process of last resort and summons the Treasurer who has stubbornly refused to cooperate both with the Committee and with Labor which has been seeking this document through RTI for the past year.

“The government has no choice but to release the document in full and un-redacted so we can all understand how it truly handled the worst energy crisis in Tasmania in a generation.

“Anything less will only serve to further show we are stuck with a government of unparalleled secrecy which is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to keep Tasmanians in the dark.”
More information: Chris Taylor 040897522

Link to the re-dacted document released under RTI:

https://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/domino/dtf/dtf.nsf/LookupFiles/RTI-Energy-Security-2-5-April-2016.pdf/$file/RTI-Energy-Security-2-5-April-2016.pdf
Madeleine Ogilvie MP Shadow Open Government and Information Integrity Minister