Prime Minister Anthony Albanese breaks the law and his first election promise as he keeps National Cabinet secret from the public
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has broken Freedom of Information laws which are the same laws PM Albanese accused Scott Morrison of breaking as recently as December 2021. Senator Rex Patrick has taken the initial steps to have it tested in court, if need be, in the near future which will be extremely embarrassing for PM Albanese and the government.
When Anthony Albanese was opposition leader last year, he attacked the federal government for not releasing documents from the National Cabinet because the government claimed they were protected from freedom of information laws as the “National Cabinet” was a sub-committee of the Federal Cabinet which is protected from freedom of information laws.
But a judgment by Justice Richard White found that the “National Cabinet”, which was set up by Scott Morrison and is nothing more than the Prime Minister and State Premiers, did not have any relationship with the federal cabinet.
In August 2021 Senator Rex Patrick won a case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal with Justice Richard White: “finding the national cabinet was not, as the prime minister had contended, a subcommittee of the federal cabinet.”
White concluded none of the documents sought by Patrick under FOI were an “official record of a committee of cabinet” and were, therefore, not covered by the cabinet exemption.
Katy Gallagher, the shadow finance minister and chair of the Senate select committee on Covid-19, told Guardian Australia she would move for immediate disclosure of key documents outlining the pandemic response. (Click here to read more)
But Scott Morrison and his government refused to hand over the documents.
In December 2021 it was reported:
Albanese, who has also attempted to get national cabinet documents under FOI, told Guardian Australia the department’s decision to reject his request was “extraordinary”, warning that the prime minister’s department was “not above the law”.
“Mr Morrison’s obsession with secrecy has undermined the law that protects all Australians’ right to know and, if left unchecked, threatens other fundamental rights,” he said. (Click here to read more)
In March 2022 the then shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus told the Canberra Times Labor would unwind the secrecy scheme in government.
“But Labor’s position is that it was never subject to cabinet-in-confidence rules for FOI requests, and we would adhere to this in office.” (Click here to read more)
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the National Cabinet
The National Cabinet, which is the Prime Minister and State Premiers and has nothing to do with the Federal Cabinet, met on Friday the 17th of June 2022. The day before Senator Rex Patrick sent an FOI request to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (as per below) seeking “The agenda and associated papers related to the national cabinet meeting scheduled to take place on 17 June 2022”.
https://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2022/06/19/prime-minister-anthony-albanese-breaks-the-law-and-his-first-election-promise-as-he-keeps-national-cabinet-secret-from-the-public/