LGAQ Right to Information push to force MPs to release documents

Documents guarded by MPs and their electorate officers would be forcibly released under a major overhaul of the state’s Right to Information Act.

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Documents guarded by Queensland MPs and their electorate officers would be forcibly released under a major overhaul of the state’s Right to Information Act by the powerful Local Government Association of Queensland.

In what advocates say will be a major change and a win for transparency, a motion will be put to the LGAQ conference in Gladstone next week calling for all 93 state MPs to be captured by the Right To Information (RTI) Act.

The annual conference – a major gathering of Queensland mayors and councillors – will debate the motion, put by Redland City Council, and a vote held to determine whether it becomes the group’s policy.

Queensland’s existing RTI Act applies for the release of documents held by government agencies – including local government and councillors – government-owned corporations and their subsidiaries, and ministers.

Redland City Council Mayor Karen Williams. Picture: Elyse Heyn

It does not apply directly to all 93 members of Queensland’s Legislative Assembly and their electoral office.

LGAQ members will debate whether to lobby for the Palaszczuk government to expand the RTI Act to anyone elected to the Queensland parliament, “so as to be consistent” with local government.

Redland City Council Mayor Karen Williams said the change would bring MPs in line with their council colleagues.

“Queenslanders do not currently have a right to information from their state representative or electorate office and it’s completely understandable there is a mood for this to change,” she said.

“Local government is the most transparent level of government in the country and it’s reasonable for residents to expect that their parliamentary representatives are held to the same standard.”

Queensland members of parliament. Picture: AAP Image

Ms Williams raised concerns about the inequitable RTI Act in a letter to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier this year, accusing Labor MP Don Brown of using the process to “stalk the email, text messages correspondence, social media and phone records of not only me but also council staff, who are simply trying to serve our community”.

The Premier, in response, noted there were “no limits” to how a person used documents obtained under the Right To Information process.

Mr Brown, the chief government whip, noted images of Ms Williams’s crashed council Lexus had only been released following an RTI application.

“I can understand the why the mayor wants to keep Redlanders in the dark; she’s done so for 12 years,” he said.

Mr Brown confirmed he used taxpayer cash to lodge RTI applications against Redlands Council, but said his office should not be subject to the same transparency requirements.

“The RTI framework is based around decision-makers; backbenchers aren’t decision-makers,” he said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

No Queensland MP earns less than $195,851 and each is provided an additional electorate and communication allowance between $93,400 and $100,200 to “cover a range of expenditure” associated with constituent assistance, distributing information and electorate running costs.

Taxpayers are tipped to spent $8.87m for the running of 93 electorates this financial year.

Griffith University political expert Paul Williams said the proposed reform, if implemented, would improve transparency and allow the Palaszczuk government to defend its record on integrity at the next election.

“Because we are the Fitzgerald state, we had arguably the worst corruption; Queenslanders are particularly sensitive to issues of corruption and a lack of transparency,” he said.

LGAQ members will debate the transparency motion the following day.

CAPTURING INFORMATION

The Right to Information Act applies to:

Government departments

Ministers

Local governments

Public authorities

Some government-owned corporations and subsidiaries