Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

As outlined in the Australian government's response to the report of the robodebt royal commission, the government believes it is critical that the cabinet, the key decision-making body of government, is comprehensively informed in its deliberations. To achieve this, the cabinet must have the benefit of frank and fearless advice from the minister and senior public servants in question. The principle of collective responsibility requires that ministers should be able to express their views frankly in cabinet meetings, in the expectation that they can argue freely in private while maintaining a united front in public when decisions have been reached.

For these reasons, the government does not support the repeal of section 34. The bill does, however, respond to the royal commissioner's observation that merely describing a document as a cabinet document is not, in itself, sufficient justification to maintain confidentiality of a document. The bill inserts new subsection 34(7) to make clear that the mere presence or absence of any kind of security marking or other feature is not sufficient to determine whether or not the document is exempt under section 34.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:37 to 16:55

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