The creation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, long overdue, sent a positive message about Labor’s reform agenda. Unfortunately, that was the start and the end of any substantial change. Two years on, the scorecard has been more about retreat than reform.
Whilever executive government can unilaterally claim public interest immunity, transparency and accountability won’t be achieved. It has become a much used means of withholding information from the public.
Take the saga of Snowy 2.0. It’s now unlikely to be operational before 2030, if ever. The last cost increase doubled by a massive $6bn to $12bn. With the two transmission links, the total cost will be about $20bn-$25bn. So much for the claim that renewables are the cheapest form of energy.
The justification for the extra $6bn came to a head at Senate estimates in February. In response to Nationals senator for NSW Ross Cadell’s request, a copy of the business case came with 44 of the 110 pages fully redacted. The redactions were justified on the grounds of the information being commercial in confidence.
As Snowy 2.0 is fully owned by the government, any financial risk is ultimately underwritten from the public purse. You’d think the public’s right to know was beyond dispute. It wasn’t to be.
Senator Cadell complained: “My concern is that the Senate asked for documents regarding the business case, and it was not given those. There is no private money at all in this.
“Why can’t we have a look at the business case? Why can’t we have a look at the reset document, given there is no private equity in this whatsoever?”
Why indeed. Why did political interests prevail over public disclosure? We now learn from the budget that taxpayers will underwrite a further $7.1bn. The two shareholder ministers, Chris Bowen and Katy Gallagher, need to account and be honest about Snowy’s future.
Is everything back on track as recently advised, or is Snowy heading to be a white elephant? There have been recent reports of a partial tunnel collapse and boring machine “Florence” stalling again on hitting hard rock. When an experienced energy expert such as Ted Woodley describes Snowy 2.0 as “Australia’s biggest engineering debacle”, the government would be well served by establishing an independent review.
The launch of Future Made in Australia didn’t start well. There was the $1bn for a domestic solar industry, in a world awash with Chinese panels. No alternative supply chains had been considered. Then there was disquiet about the $1bn for US-based startup PsiQuantum. The mix between loans and equity was not disclosed, nor the details about intellectual property rights and ownership of the computer.
Secrecy prevailed throughout. There was no public tender, nor any consultation with the advisory committee made up of eminent scientific and business leaders. Twenty-one companies submitted secret expressions of interest, with strict non-disclosure agreements in place.
The political connections of the three lobbying firms – Brookline Advisory, Akin Agency and the C|T Group – attracted attention. That’s not surprising considering former politicians and staffers abound as lobbyists.
In Canberra, transparency is limited to just a listing on the register. By contrast, strict controls were enacted in Queensland following Professor Peter Coaldrake’s integrity inquiry. Among the changes is a prohibition of lobbyists “dual-hatting” as political campaigners.
An order to table documents has been an important power in the hands of the Senate. Senator David Pocock used it to access details of meetings with ministers about the project. The order was blocked by Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic’s claim for public interest immunity.
As there’s no right of appeal to an independent legal arbiter, as exists in NSW, the decision couldn’t be challenged. Each minister, in effect, has the final say about what information will be made public. It’s the antithesis of transparent government.
The chair of the Centre for Public Integrity argued it was indefensible for ministers to hide information from the Senate. In Labor’s first year in office compliance with these orders fell to an all-time low of about 20 per cent.
This statistic is damning. The secrecy needs to end.
An independent transparency monitor proposed by the centre would help resolve the stalemate. As well, a compelling case for lobbying reform is set out in Senator Pocock’s recent dissenting report on the issue. Regular disclosures of ministerial diaries, easy to implement, would be a good start.
The public expected promises would be delivered, not denied. Labor is falling short. With Senate estimates resuming this week, there’s an opportunity to once again argue the case for transparency and accountability. The public’s right to know has to be defended.
Jennie George is a former ACTU president and Labor MP for Throsby.
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Among the many Labor pre-election promises was a commitment to be transparent and accountable in government. This was in stark contrast to the revelations of secretive behaviour by the former prime minister. The public’s right to know is central to good governance; a fundamental principle that needs to be defended.