Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

The advice was actually received from Harry Evans. It says that advice to the government is not exempt through public interest immunity. But it also says that working documents are not exempt from public interest—sorry, are exempt from public interest immunity. Therefore, what we seek is for those opposite and the minister to come back into this room and tell us what conversations you've had with the states and territories, what objections have been put forward by them and why these documents can't be released. Also come back into this place and provide us with any information that is outside the scope of that claim, as per the guidelines designed by the previous clerk of this place.

It's embarrassing. There are no reasons why you can't release much of this information. Firstly, the tables outlining the list of funded projects were disclosed to the Senate in the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee on 2 December by the minister. Speaking for the minister, the department secretary, Mr Betts, advised that the minister conceded that the states and territories had adequate time to consider the budget funding tables. These tables are now also listed on the Federal Financial Relations website, for anyone to peruse. How in the world could the government justify a public interest immunity to schedules contained in letters where the schedules have already been disclosed?

This leaves the tabling of the cover letters themselves, between the Prime Minister and the ministers in the states and territories. If what we have been told is true, these letters should not be controversial and there should be no reason to withhold them from the Senate. There should be no reason for the states to be sensitive about the contents of those letters. We are talking about letters that have been discussed and disclosed by Mr Betts, the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, in Senate estimates. You guys are running a protection racket.

Question agreed to.