OPINION: Making appointments public is not a legal requirement. But it seems timely to revisit this and to formalise the requirement for transparency.
It is a cliche that it is not the actions of the government, but the cover-up, that gets it into trouble.has provided a novel variation on the theme by applying the cover-up before even exercising the particular power.
Currently, there is a convention that ministerial appointments are recorded and made public in a number of ways – by press releases, on departmental websites and in a formal record on the Federal Register of Legislation.in the light of this controversy to revisit that and to formalise the requirement for transparency.The lack of transparency, however, runs deep and so does the need for correction.
First, it was claimed that these documents were subject to cabinet confidentiality because they would “reveal cabinet deliberations” or show “the direction from government to portfolio ministers”. The department argued that disclosure of this information “could reasonably be expected to inhibit full and frank dialogue within government, and, as a result, full consideration by the government on any potential future consideration of matters pertaining to individual portfolios”.
It would be astonishing if a document saying which minister has the power to cancel visa documents would actually have such an effect.Perhaps the most extraordinary argument made by the department was that releasing this information would create a precedent of public disclosure which would result in “concerns existing in the open and honest nature of advice being provided which may then hinder future deliberations and decision making processes”.
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