Premium Columnists Woe betide a public servant on the wrong side of a sudden pivot Editors' Picks If events of the past week in New South Wales serve as a reminder to federal public servants of anything, it should be that circumstances
Lawyers oppose national cabinet secrecy provisions September 28, 2021 By Jackson Graham Federal The Law Council of Australia has joined opposition to federal legislation that would make the national cabinet exempt from freedom of information requests. The coronavirus
Plan to ‘kill’ proposal that will give national cabinet immunity from scrutiny September 27, 2021 By Melissa Coade Communications & Technology Senator Rex Patrick has proposed an amendment that will challenge what he calls the federal government’s ‘oversight obstruction efforts’ to keep the deliberations of the
Premium Columnists It’s revenge time, as Morrison strikes back over AAT’s national cabinet decision September 10, 2021 By Verona Burgess Editors' Picks The sheer audacity of the federal government should come as no surprise when it comes to ambit claims of secrecy. Nor should anyone be surprised
Senate orders JobKeeper data from tax commissioner September 6, 2021 By Melissa Coade Economy & Industry Senator Rex Patrick has led the call for the tax commissioner to produce information about the large Australian companies who were recipients of JobKeeper payments.
Premium Columnists PM&C has a lot of embarrassing questions to come August 13, 2021 By Verona Burgess Editors' Picks The head of the Australian Public Service, Phil Gaetjens, and the head of his cabinet division, Leonie McGregor, have made fundamental errors of historical fact
Premium Columnists Matters of transparency: freedom of information and the national cabinet August 10, 2021 By Binoy Kampmark Editors' Picks Senator Rex Patrick was delighted with the August 5 decision of the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). “This is a magnificent victory for transparency for
Rex Patrick wins fight for national cabinet documents August 6, 2021 By Shannon Jenkins Federal Independent senator Rex Patrick has won his legal fight to access national cabinet documents, after a Federal Court judge decided that the documents were not
Premium Columnists A public service that stuffs up is not going to get off Scot free July 30, 2021 By Verona Burgess Editors' Picks Haters gonna hate and blamers gonna blame, but they also get to vote. Most public servants know it is the Australian government that has the
National Archives faces backlog of 20,000 access requests July 26, 2021 By Shannon Jenkins Federal Independent senator Rex Patrick has slammed the head of the National Archives of Australia and the prime minister after it was revealed that the archives
Politicians, advocates reject government’s proposed environmental law reforms June 9, 2021 By Shannon Jenkins Energy & Environment The Morrison government’s proposed environmental law reforms have received pushback from Labor, the Greens, and independent senator Rex Patrick, following an inquiry into the plans.
Agriculture department reviewing $13m overspend on water buyback March 17, 2021 By Shannon Jenkins Energy & Environment National auditor-general Grant Hehir has asked the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to review the material it used to influence its decision-making when
PM&C hires lawyer to fight attempts to access national cabinet documents March 11, 2021 By Shannon Jenkins Federal The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has reportedly hired a senior lawyer to prevent the contents of national cabinet meetings from being made
Concerns raised over major review of spy laws December 7, 2020 By Shannon Jenkins Federal The release of the biggest review of Australia’s intelligence laws in nearly four decades has sparked concerns over accountability from the legal community and Independent
