Labor Retreats on FOI Law Changes Amid Widespread Opposition

Facing strong resistance, Labor has withdrawn contentious reforms to the freedom of information (FOI) laws that would have made it more difficult for individuals to access documents.

The proposed changes, which suggested banning anonymous submissions, imposing additional fees, and making it simpler to dismiss certain requests, were met with significant opposition. Critics included the Opposition, Greens, independents, and various transparency and integrity groups.

In a decisive move, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announced in the Senate on Thursday that the government would not pursue the bill in its current state due to insufficient support. For legislation to pass in the upper house, backing from either the Greens or the Coalition is essential.

“We are open to dialogue and will continue discussions to refine these crucial reforms, which we plan to revisit in parliament to effectively address the FOI system,” Gallagher assured the Senate.

“And, in turn, weakened our democracy,” Pender said, calling on the government to now adopt an independent and comprehensive review of the laws.

Centre for Public Integrity executive director Catherine Williams backed that call for a comprehensive review, saying the system was in crisis due to extensive delays and increased secrecy, with it becoming harder for people to access information.

Opposition legal affairs spokesperson Michaelia Cash described it as a “win for democracy”, and accused the government of being addicted to secrecy.

“The Coalition will never support the Albanese government silencing Australians,” Cash said.

Why did Labor want the laws changed?

Labor argued the laws needed to be updated as they hadn’t been reformed in decades, pointing to large and complex requests backing up the system and costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars.

The reforms would make it easier to reject vexatious and frivolous requests, the government said when revealing the proposed changes, arguing AI bots and potential criminal and foreign actors abusing the system were threatening its viability.

However, during a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, departments couldn’t produce evidence of AI bots or criminal or foreign actors using the system for nefarious purposes.

Greens senator David Shoebridge criticised the government’s lack of evidence to back up its accusations.

“The threat to the public’s right to know isn’t from Russian bots, it’s from the Labor cabinet.”

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.