Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025, a bill that, despite its title, does not expand freedom of information in Australia. It does the opposite. It narrows it, it entrenches secrecy and it weakens the fundamental right of Australians to know what their government is doing in their name. This bill represents a profound step backwards for transparency, accountability and open government. The government tells us the bill will modernise the freedom of information framework, streamline processes and improve efficiency. But when you actually read it and you listen to those who understand the FOI system—journalists, integrity experts and transparency advocates—the truth becomes quite clear. The bill is actually about control; it's not about modernisation.

It proposes a long list of sweeping changes to the Freedom of Information Act and the Australian Information Commissioner Act. Among them, it would require all FOI requests to include verified identification, banning anonymous requests; it'll impose a 40-hour cap on processing requests, allowing agencies to simply stop searching if they decide a request is too hard; it'll allow new application fees for requests and reviews, except for personal information, which would effectively tax Australians for seeking the truth; it'll expand exemptions for cabinet and deliberative documents, making refusals easier and transparency rarer; it'll extend the time agencies have to respond from 30 calendar days to 30 working days, further delaying public access; and it will give the Information Commissioner the power to remit reviews back to the very agencies that made the decisions in the first place. These are not minor procedural tweaks; they're major structural changes to how Australians access information from their government.

There are nine schedules in this bill, each eroding openness in different ways. Schedule 1 rewrites the very objects of the act, shifting the emphasis from the public's right to know to the proper functioning of government. That's not freedom of information; that's freedom from scrutiny. Schedule 2 bans anonymous requests. This will silence whistleblowers, journalists, advocates and ordinary citizens who fear retaliation. Schedule 3 introduces a discretionary 40-hour processing cap, which is a bureaucrat's dream. Agencies can now stop once something becomes too difficult. Transparency should never depend on convenience. Schedule 4 extends decision timeframes, turning 30 days into 30 working days. In practice, that's a delay of two extra weeks or more in a system that's already plagued by delay. Schedule 5 changes review processes to limit third-party participation, weakening the independence of the Information Commissioner's role. Schedule 6 introduces application fees, which is the truth tax I was talking about, and citizens will have to pay for access to information that should already belong to them. Schedule 7 expands exemptions for cabinet and deliberative processes. Agencies will be able to refuse requests without even searching for the documents. Schedule 8 allows successor ministers or agencies to respond if the original minister leaves office, which is a seemingly technical measure that risks blurring accountability. Schedule 9 contains transitional provisions that mask just how sweeping these changes are.

The coalition will oppose this bill because it strikes at the heart of democratic accountability. The bill has been rushed. There was no genuine consultation, no serious engagement with the 2023 Senate FOI inquiry and no credible explanation for how these changes would protect national security or improve administration. We on the coalition side remain open to arguments about national security. We always have been and we always will be. But no-one has yet explained how making it harder for citizens to ask for information makes Australia safer. No-one has identified any instance of a leak or a breach that could only be prevented by banning anonymous requests or capping processing time.

This bill flips the presumption of the FOI Act on its head. For 40 years, the principle has been simple: that government information belongs to the public unless there's a good reason to withhold it. Labor's bill replaces that presumption of openness with a presumption of control. Australians will be left to see only what the government wants them to see—the polished announcements, not the messy debates that led to them.

By charging fees for applications and reviews, this bill creates a new barrier to access. Transparency will depend on your bank balance. The right to know will become a privilege for those who can afford it. By banning anonymous requests, this bill endangers those who seek to expose wrongdoing. Whistleblowers, journalists, advocates and even public servants who are acting in good faith will be deterred from seeking or sharing information.

The bill's new cabinet and deliberative exemptions are quite breathtaking in scope. Agencies will be able to classify factual briefings as deliberative, simply to keep them hidden. Agencies already fail to meet statutory deadlines, and this bill rewards that failure by extending timeframes and reducing oversight. Delays will become the norm not the exception.

No major integrity or transparency body supports this bill—none. Every independent voice from media organisations to civil society groups have warned it will weaken democracy and impede investigative journalism. This government came to power promising transparency. What have we seen instead? Secret estimates manuals, refusals to release departmental documents and non-disclosure agreements at every turn. This bill is just the latest step in a broader pattern of secrecy. When governments hide information, trust evaporates. Democracy depends on informed citizens. You cannot make informed choices if you are kept in the dark.

The coalition will vote against this bill, because it ignores the recommendations of the 2023 Senate inquiry, which highlighted resourcing and cultural change as the real issues within the FOI system, because it imposes barriers that discourage legitimate applicants and because it expands the grounds for refusal and secrecy. It has no credible stakeholder support outside the bureaucracy, and it reverses four decades of progress towards open government.

I'd also like to note that—I'm pleased to see many of the independents speaking out against this, but I do hope that the Climate 200 movement remembers this when we get to the next election, because they seem to exclusively target the Liberals—this is a clear example of the fact that it is the Labor government that lacks transparency. The Albanese Labor government is proving every day why they are the most unaccountable, secretive government in recent memory. Freedom of information was never meant to be comfortable for government; it was designed to make them accountable. This bill does the opposite. It shields ministers and officials from scrutiny, it entrenches secrecy and it weakens the rights of the everyday Australian citizen.

We welcome the fact that this bill is now before the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. That inquiry will report in early December. Given the complexity of these changes, it's absolutely extraordinary that the government is pushing ahead with the debate before that report is even tabled. We in the coalition will continue to engage constructively through the committee process. We will support or move amendments that restore transparency, including retaining anonymity to protect whistleblowers, ensuring any new fees are subject to parliamentary disallowance and removing the most restrictive provisions in schedules 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8. Our goal is simple: to defend the principle that information belongs to the public not to the government of the day.

Even the way this bill has been handled demonstrates the arrogance of this government. This bill was not meant to be debated this week. It was not on the draft forward program. The government has brought it on suddenly, ramming it through without the courtesy of waiting for the Senate committee's findings. That is not respect for process; that is abuse of process. The government even withdrew a promised security briefing for the former shadow Attorney-General—first offered online, then cancelled and then never rescheduled. The new shadow Attorney-General has not been briefed at all. This is not how serious national security concerns are handled. This is political theatre designed to create an illusion of urgency when none exists.

The truth is this bill does not have a friend in the world. The coalition opposes it, the crossbench opposes it, every major stakeholder opposes it—everyone except, of course, the bureaucrats who would gain new powers to refuse information. Once again, the government is abusing parliamentary procedure, just as it's done with the environment protection and biodiversity bills. Debating this bill before the Senate report is finalised is a travesty. It shows contempt for due process and for the Australian people. Yes, the government was elected with a very large majority in the House, but that has emboldened them and that 'emboldenedness' has now turned to a sense of arrogance.

Freedom of Information is not a privilege granted by government; it is a right owed to every citizen in a democracy. Freedom of information exists so that Australians can hold their government to account, so that power cannot be exercised in darkness. Those of us on this side of the House know that when you limit what citizens can know you limit what they can decide, and when you limit what they can decide you limit democracy itself—something that we as a nation have worked towards for so many years.

Labor's bill puts secrecy before service. It puts control before citizenship. The coalition believes in open government. We believe in a free press and we believe in the people's right to know. Over the course of the election campaign in McPherson, I had the opportunity to speak to so many individuals across the southern Gold Coast who shared that view. They want representatives who are going to give them access to information because it is the information of the people. This bill erodes those principles and it must be opposed.

When the original Freedom of Information Act was introduced 40 years ago, it marked a turning point. It recognised that transparency strengthens democracy, that access to information empowers citizens. We on this side of the House know that that is true—that government must be accountable to the governed. This bill moved by the Australian Labor Party would undo that progress. It would make secrecy the norm and openness the exception. We here in the coalition stand firmly against it, and we will continue to hold the government to account. We will continue to fight for transparency, integrity and the public's right to know. Those of us on this side of the House that regularly engage with our communities, that regularly engage with the Australian people, need to be the ones to stand up against this government and what they're doing.

Freedom of information is not just a law. It's not just a concept that we talk about and give lip service to. It's a principle. It's a cornerstone of democracy. It's something we need to continue to fight for and advocate for on behalf of our communities. It's so disappointing that this government has chosen to go about this bill in the way it has. Once freedom of information is weakened, once secrecy takes hold, it is very difficult to restore.

I've outlined in the course of this speech a number of issues with this bill. I've taken the parliament through the various schedules and spoken about the issues and the ways in which this bill would compromise integrity, transparency and open government—the things that we in this place should be working towards. This bill represents a step backwards for Australia as a country, and the government should be absolutely ashamed of the way it's progressing this bill.

We here in the coalition will continue to make noise. We will continue to make sure that Australians have the right to engage with their government and to engage with the information that is owed to them. Where there are national security concerns, we on this side of the House will work with the government and we understand that. But, as I stated, there is no example that the government is able to provide.

It's for all these reasons that the coalition will oppose the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025. I ask the government to take a serious look at itself in the way that it's gone about moving this legislation.

See this speech in context