Opposition Leader Leanne Castley: “These are public projects, funded with public money, and the public has a right to know what Labor is hiding.” Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The ACT Government has defied a Legislative Assembly order to release a string of business cases for major projects, including the Aquatic Centre, Canberra Stadium, Canberra Theatre, Convention Centre, Raising London Circuit, Northside Hospital, and the Telstra Tower development, claiming privilege.
But the Canberra Liberals will fight to have the documents made public, arguing a precedent has been set for securing their release through an independent legal arbiter.
In May, independent legal arbiter Ken Mason AC KC ordered the release of several ACT Government documents relating to health expenditure and light rail costs after ruling that “claims of privilege” were not valid.
Last month, the Liberals again sought a raft of documents under Standing Order 213A of the Legislative Assembly. They were joined by the Greens and Independent Thomas Emerson, both of whom added their own interests to the list.
But late on Friday (18 July), the government responded to the Assembly, claiming privilege in 52 of the 53 business cases sought.
The reasons included Cabinet confidentiality and the concern that releasing sensitive financial information would compromise contract negotiations or negatively impact the business of a supplier.
The Liberals plan to challenge about 40 of the privilege claims.
Opposition Leader Leanne Castley said she would write to the Clerk of the Assembly challenging Labor’s claims to privilege, triggering the appointment of an independent legal arbiter to adjudicate the matters.
“There is a process to overrule Labor and the precedent is already set,” she said.
“Labor are just wasting time and taxpayer money trying to keep their secrets.
“These are public projects, funded with public money, and the public has a right to know what Labor is hiding.”
Light Rail Stage 2A is proceeding despite questions about its business case. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
While the Liberals imply that the government is only delaying the inevitable, the previous ruling related to a completed project, such as Light Rail Stage 1, not those in the planning phase or early development, where contracts are still to be awarded.
They argue that the arbiter was not expected to release documents that disclosed the government’s negotiating position and strategy, but the public deserved to know whether a project stacked up and high-level estimates of a project’s costs and benefits would do that.
The Liberals want to know if the government is prepared to proceed with projects despite a lack of evidence of sufficient community benefit.
Both Light Rail Stage 2A, currently under construction, and Stage 2B have drawn criticism for a lack of information regarding their costs and benefits.
Ms Castley said the community deserved to know how public resources were being used.
“Labor have made billions of dollars of investment decisions without being transparent or upfront with us about whether these decisions stack up. That’s not good enough,” she said.
Ms Castley said the arbiter would determine if the government’s claims were justified.
“It’s not enough for Labor to say the community shouldn’t have access to government documents,” she said. “That’s why we have an independent process to test Labor’s claims and determine what the community has a right to know.”
The Liberals also plan to ask questions in the upcoming estimates hearings about the cost of challenging the government’s privilege claims, as well as grilling Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Head of Service Kathy Leigh.
A government spokesperson stated that the decisions struck an appropriate balance between transparency and the need to protect commercially sensitive information and maintain the integrity of government decision-making.
The government stood by its approach and remained committed to accountable and responsible governance.
“There are valid reasons why certain documents, including business cases, are not immediately made public, particularly when there are considerations around protecting commercial sensitivity or maintaining the integrity of decision-making processes, including projects that are currently or will be going through the procurement process,” the spokesperson said.
“The government will continue to ensure that appropriate information is made available when possible, and it remains committed to balancing transparency with necessary safeguards.”
The spokesperson said that while an arbiter had been used in the past, this did not establish a precedent for automatically using that process in every case.
“Each request for release of documents needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the specific circumstances surrounding the information, including the nature of the documents, legal privilege considerations and the specific claims made,” the spokesperson said.
The Greens sought documents relating to school and college infrastructure projects valued at or exceeding $25 million, the FOGO processing facility, the Materials Recovery Facility, and several road projects.
The government has claimed privilege regarding the business case for the FOGO plant and financial information related to the Material Recovery Facility.
Mr Emerson’s focus was on serious incidents in early childhood education and care centres across the ACT.
