Labor is making a mockery of its promise of transparent government

Friday afternoon can be a dangerous time to be a journalist. Editors racing to put together weekend editions lob last-minute requests and governments routinely release uncomfortable information late in the day. Proof of that practice arrived last week in a bruising auditor general’s report on management of public records requests by government departments. Buried in the footnotes was data on Treasury bureaucrats making a mockery of freedom of information rules. In January, they fessed up to withholding documents that had already been approved for release until Fridays. Sometimes public servants even went out of their way to extend processing timelines so decisions would land at the end of the week. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Of the 155 applications reviewed with data on day of release available, nearly half were found to have been withheld to the end of the week. It has been obvious for some time that Treasury’s website happens to be updated suspiciously close to 5pm on Fridays, most weeks. Apart from ensuring documents disappear into the weekend, Treasury was shown not to have any policy for dealing with requests. A draft set of rules from 2023 boasted of five “procedure documents”. None actually existed. Sadly, the report’s findings that 80% of FoI requests were blocked in part or in full is yet another indictment of transparency inside the Albanese government. Now four years into power, promises of a transparent and upfront approach are in rough shape. …