Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is the Attorney-General. In 2015, you said to the then Attorney-General that Australians have a right to know what the government is doing, 'what senior government ministers are doing with their time, who they're meeting with' and 'who they're being lobbied by'. I agree. Is the government open to supporting my CleanUpPoliticsAct, which would require the mandatory publication of ministerial diaries?

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kooyong for her question. I do recognise the member's advocacy for more transparency in government, and, after nine years of Liberal government, more transparency has been desperately needed. The Albanese government is committed to upholding a high standard of integrity, transparency and accountability—a standard that the former government never aspired to let alone achieved.

Within months of coming to office, we've established the National Anti-Corruption Commission—the single biggest reform to the Commonwealth integrity framework in decades. The Prime Minister and this government have exposed the shame of the former prime minister's secret ministries. That's the secrecy, of course, that the former government sunk to. It's an episode that damaged good government, damaged the parliament and damaged our democracy.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Attorney-General will pause so I can hear from the member for Kooyong on a point of order.

Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a point of order on relevance.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Attorney-General was not asked about the former government. There were not alternative approaches. He was asked quite a specific question. He's had a preamble, and I'm going to invite him to return to the member's question to make sure he is directly relevant.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Commonwealth's Lobbying Code of Conduct, which is a transparency measure, of course, was established by the last Labor government. For the first time, lobbyists were required to register their activity and comply with strict rules on transparency. Labor created the lobbying code, and it's worth saying by way of contrast that the former Liberal government tried to privatise the visa system by handing it to its lobbyist mates. The current freedom of information regime is a legacy of the last Labor government. Labor abolished conclusive certificates. Labor created a commissioner model with three commissioners—an Information Commissioner, a Privacy Commissioner and a Freedom of Information Commissioner—for a no-cost review of FOI decisions. The former Liberal government, regrettably, smashed that model, trying to repeal the legislation and then defunding the office.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The manager will pause. Attorney-General, I was pretty clear in my earlier remarks. You weren't asked about the former government. There was no compare and contrast. Can I ask you to stick to the question. Otherwise, you will resume your seat.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recognise the call by the member for Kooyong for automatic access to ministerial diaries. Such access to diaries would be alien to the Commonwealth's freedom of information system, which does not provide for the automatic publication of any category of document. Access to official documents of government is available under the Freedom of Information Act by request. Each request is subject to assessment, which is governed by statutory requirements. It's governed by a series of exemptions, each of which need to be considered. Decisions are subject to review by the Information Commissioner and, if necessary, by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. That's just how our system works. I thank the member for her question.