Gov Hoarding freedom of Information Sen. Shoebridge greens August 2025

Описание: Senator David Shoebridge's views on Freedom of Information (FOI) and government transparency are highly critical, characterising the current system as "broken" and arguing that recent government proposals would make it more expensive, secretive, and "impenetrable."

He believes the government has an entrenched "culture of secrecy" and is actively seeking to hide information from the public.

Key Criticisms on the FOI System
Senator Shoebridge's main criticisms focus on the current state of the FOI process and the impact of proposed reforms:

1. Dysfunction and Delays
Chronic Backlogs: The system is mired in "endless delays," with review cases at the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) taking months, if not years, to be resolved. Data has shown backlogs stretching over six years for some reviews.

Heavy Redaction: When documents are finally released, they are often "heavily redacted" or have entire pages blacked out for questionable reasons, frustrating the public's right to know.

Under-resourcing: The core problem is that the entire system, including the OAIC, is "grossly underfunded" and lacks the necessary resources to enforce the law effectively or clear the backlogs.

2. Opposition to Proposed Reforms
Shoebridge has strongly opposed government proposals aimed at changing the FOI system, arguing they are anti-transparency:

"Transparency Tax": He criticises the introduction of fees for most FOI requests, calling it a "transparency tax" that makes information accessible only to those who can pay.

Banning Anonymity: He rejects the proposal to ban anonymous FOI applications, arguing that while the government claims to be targeting AI bots or foreign actors, this change unjustly targets regular users, whistleblowers, journalists, and politicians.

Expanded Exemptions: He opposes the expansion of cabinet confidentiality exemptions, which would capture a greater volume of information and further limit public scrutiny.

3. Culture of Secrecy
Shoebridge accuses the government of having "contempt for the public's right to know."

He argues that government-commissioned reports have confirmed the FOI system is dysfunctional, but instead of providing the proper funding and stronger rules needed to force the release of information, the government has focused on penalising the public for trying to access it.

He points out that the government is failing to take the crisis in the FOI system seriously and suggests they are intentionally allowing the system to fail to reduce accountability.