Cabinet secrecy denies Sydney’s lockdown suburbs the truth

The United Nations’ minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners stipulates inmates be informed of “the reasons for [their] commitment”. Fair enough. While not quite imprisoned, residents of Fairfield and other areas of western Sydney – who were subject to strict COVID-19 lockdowns last year – are entitled to know why.

A report by the NSW Audit Office “identified several occasions where the NSW government did not follow agency advice, or delayed following advice” on public health lockdowns. Affected residents, however, are not permitted to see the reasons for those decisions and delays “due to the confidentiality of cabinet deliberations”. No such restrictions, the auditor-general noted, applied in Victoria or the ACT.

Ghost towns: light traffic on the Great Western Highway near Kingswood during stricter COVID-19 lockdown rules in August last year, Credit: Wolter Peeters

Released nearing the holiday break, the report is nonetheless troubling for the NSW Coalition as it attempts to extend its almost 12-year run at the March 2023 election. Findings of deficiencies in its “transparency and accountability” and its capacity to “preserve the public’s trust” might resonate with voters who punished the federal Liberal-National Coalition at this year’s May election for the same perceived shortcomings.

There was a time, not so long ago, when most voters appeared untroubled by the machinations of opaque political decisions. In 2013, Scott Morrison flat-out refused to discuss, “on water operations” related to the reported intercept of asylum seeker vessels. This, and similar non-disclosures, were deemed sufficient at the ballot box to secure the Coalition nine more years in office and Morrison, the former immigration minister, went on to become prime minister.

Times change. An inquiry by former High Court judge Virginia Bell found “lack of disclosure” of Morrison’s appointment to multiple ministries was “apt to undermine public confidence” and “corrosive of trust in government”.

In NSW, transparency was raised at the Independent Commission Against Corruption over former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s decision not to disclose her relationship with colleague Daryl Maguire. And an internal Department of Premier and Cabinet inquiry into the appointment process for a senior trade and investment role made several references to disclosure failures.

Whether the NSW Coalition chooses to address these latest pandemic-related trust and accountability issues remains to be seen. Regardless, the report’s findings – which ought to be issued multilingually – will likely resonate with people who were subject to decisions made around a cabinet table, largely without public transparency. For them, the politics is personal.

When helicopters are circling over your home, police patrolling your streets, and members of the defence force knocking on your door, trusting government can be challenging.

Maintaining faith in confidential political decision-making can be tough in an environment where rules are changing rapidly, official decrees and media coverage are, in the main, monolingual, and othering becomes a subtext. The notion that migrant and refugee communities are especially resistant to trust in government has been thoroughly dispelled. It is time that stereotype was abandoned and that we recognised any erosion in trust is community-wide.

Residents of Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, Blacktown, Parramatta, parts of Penrith and other affected local government areas across Sydney’s west are entitled to know what motivated decisions that so deeply intruded on their lives. Putting aside whether authorities had their health and wellbeing front of mind, this is about how those decisions were made, the evidence on which they were based, and who is accountable.

Transparency is also the most effective way to improve. Understanding where mistakes were made is invaluable in determining what questions to put to frontline agencies such as NSW Health, and supporting entities involved in the planning of joined-up departmental responses, such as the Greater Cities Commission. Gauging the effectiveness of these agencies is impossible if their influence on, or irrelevance to, cabinet decision-making is hidden. Otherwise, what’s the point of them?

If the auditor-general’s report fails to provoke a meaningful government response, the constituents it covers will respond. The areas of harshest lockdown just happen to intersect some of the state’s most marginal electorates. Case in point, East Hills, held by Liberal Wendy Lindsay by a two-party preferred margin of under 1 per cent, and Penrith, represented by former deputy Liberal leader and cabinet member Stuart Ayres.

The report, and coming election, afford Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition Leader Chris Minns a chance to commit to greater government accountability on crisis management. When it mattered, the affected communities of western Sydney rose to the challenge. It’s only fair government does the same.

Andy Marks is a pro vice-chancellor at Western Sydney University and the director of the Centre for Western Sydney.

The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.

More world commentary from our acclaimed writers

The swing: Trump, Putin, Musk et al: the disruptors and rule breakers of the last few years are finally facing (some) music as the West tries to reassert a rules-based economic order. Long may it continue - Nick Bryant

A nation of gun lovers: Over 40,000 people have died by gunshot in the US in 2022. “There’s no logical reason a nation of 332 million people should have 400 million guns. You can’t fight fire with fire. And fighting firearms with firearms is called a war.” - Grace Tame

False modesty: The Iranian government had their “red line”. After the death of Mahsa Amini and years of brutality and hardship, the women of Iran found their “red line”. What happens when the two “red lines” meet? - Peter Hartcher