14 March 2007

FOI changes

| johnboy
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I imagine you’re just like me, constantly worrying about the onerous and expensive FOI requests our loving ACT Government is forced to bear by the wicked Opposition and Greens and other nosey meddlers.

To think that our Government should have to waste time and money letting people know what it’s up to when it’s such a model of capability, decency and honesty that of course there’s nothing there to find! Frankly it makes my blood boil! People I meet constantly say the same thing, it’s been a long running source of community anger as far as I can tell.

There’s nothing we’ve wanted the Labor majority in the Legislative Assembly to do more than fix this gross travesty of the principles of autocratic governance!

So Hooray! Hooray! Those nasty nosey Greens have put out a media release bewailing the passage of the laws we have all craved. They point out that the lovely Stanhope Government now has the same regime on Freedom Of Information as the equally beloved Howard Government.

Yay, Yay, Yay, our pretty heads need never be troubled by information again!

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I’ve now checked Hansard, and it appears the Libs voted against it on 8 March, and then an amendment was introduced and they voted for it on 13 March.

Can anyone explain what happened?

queen_vic_toria_II1:31 pm 14 Mar 07

Ok guys, the Libs didn’t vote for it… check Hansard.

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again… don’t vote for the Stanhope mob in next year’s election. They have just spent the last couple of years screwing everyone, so hopefully some of you wake up and smell the roses!

So can we take it that the local Libs voted for the legislation too?

That’s what gives me the irrits too. The libs can see this benefiting them when (if?) they come into power, so they argued against it, but then voted for it just like the 4yr terms

The arguments used by Federal Treasury in McKinnon have always struck me as evasive, paternalistic pap, and having our local government cite them is galling.

I find this part of the last paragraph particularly interesting:

“I was disappointed that no-one else voted against this anti-democratic legislation in the Assembly today.”

So can we take it that the local Libs voted for the legislation too?

Open and accountable… very funnny.

Must haveve been a non-core promise.

How does this gel with the bill of rights?

This seems to be a trend of unpopular governments where there is a weak opposition.

It’s hard to argue that any weakening of FOI laws would lead to good government, despite the fact that the elected government have passed these new laws.

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