Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens will be supporting this amendment and the improved transparency and accountability that would be provided by an annual report. I note the minister's response—that she's not supporting this because she feels that the public register will be enough information. It is very clear that there is going to be much more limited information on that public register—and, Minister, you just outlined some of the things that won't be on the public register—than we think is appropriate to be either publicly available or, in the case of sensitive information, to be redacted, to take account of that sensitivity. We note that there is not full transparency because of the provisions outlined in this proposed amendment to be able to redact sensitive information.

Critically, the provision of annual reports is one of a suite of amendments that we and the Labor Party are moving, to try and improve the transparency and the accountability and to actually put some checks and balances in this legislation, because—for all of your words, Minister, that this is going to be a most wonderful, collaborative, open approach, where everything is going to be discussed with everybody else—there is nothing in the legislation that says that that's the way it has to be. All the legislation lays out is, basically, a framework that allows the government, if it wanted to, to come in, in an incredibly heavy-handed, non-consultative and completely over-the-top manner, without having to give any reasons for decisions that are being made, without having to account for itself, without having to give any reports and without the ability to review those decisions. It is a very authoritarian way of going about this piece of legislation and is completely at odds with the expressions that you have been using during this debate, Minister, of your commitment to a collaborative and open approach.

The CHAIR: The question is that amendment (1) on sheet 1112 be agreed to.