Smart one day, secret the next
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April 19, 2008
THE Bligh Government’s claims that it is open and accountable with Queenslanders are being undermined by its own culture of secrecy.
At the end of a week in which several gross examples of the government’s secrecy were highlighted, The Courier-Mail can reveal 40 examples of secrets the government wants to keep.
From crime statistics to full secondary school OP ratings, overcrowded train figures and details of payments to the Governor – they cover the full gamut of the government’s operations.
Publishing the list comes after numerous examples emerged this week of the government being caught going out of its way to hide important details from the public.
Auditor-General Glenn Poole lambasted departmental annual reports as being incomplete, ambiguous and lacking relevant information; Education Queensland refused to reveal which schools were most in need of urgent maintenance; and it emerged Queensland Health refused to release cancer data to scientists to conduct life-saving research.
Transport Minister John Mickel also initially denied access to CityTrain service cancellations in State Parliament after releasing the same damning figures only months earlier.
The government also this week lampooned an Opposition motion asking for advice or reports on lead levels in Mount Isa, suggesting they lodge a freedom of information application instead.
Ethicist Noel Preston yesterday said recent examples of secrecy were cause for concern despite promises of openness such as the review of freedom of information laws.
“There are early signs showing the Premier and her Ministers need to re-double their efforts to ensure they are more open and ready to disclose information,” Dr Preston said.
He said all governments suffered a bias towards control that led to excess secrecy.
“The people own government and the first rule of good government is accountability to the shareholders because it is an ethical issue and one of integrity,” Dr Preston said.
“The more secret and controlling a government, the more it will lapse into bad decisions and bad practices that may become unethical.”
What the State Government doesn’t want you to know:
1. A full breakdown of OP ratings for schools.
2. How much government money is paid to unions.
3. The bonuses paid to senior public servants.
4. The register of cancer sufferers which the Queensland Cancer Council needs for life-saving research purposes.
5. The state’s 20 most dangerous intersections.
6. The names and values of the top 20 art works in the Queensland Art Gallery.
7. Details of payments to the Governor and expenditure at Government House.
8. Results of Health Department blood tests on children at Mount Isa.
9. South Bank crime statistics.
10. The breakdown of costs of the Lang Park redevelopment and construction of GoMA and the Goodwill Bridge.
11. Cull figures in national parks for vermin like dingoes, goats and foxes.
12. The detailed breakdown of the multimillion-dollar fees paid to big law firms like Minter Ellison and Clayton Utz.
13. How many girls aged under 16 have received contraceptive implants from Queensland Health officials.
14. Rail station crime statistics.
15. Monthly statistics on peak-hour train performance.
16. Overcrowded train statistics.
17. How much money the Government will save by making rainwater tank rebates less attractive.
18. Health and Education Department safety and security reports for the Torres Strait.
19. The cost of a full statewide roll-out of Tasers for police.
20. Individual departments’ electricity consumption.
21. Traffic accidents involving pedestrians in the CBD.
22. Which dodgy childcare centres have been given compliance notices for breaches.
23. Breakdown of contractors and consultants hired.
24. Queensland Transport’s contract with Cubic Transportation Systems, the contractor behind the troublesome public transport Go Card.
25. High priority maintenance budgets for state schools.
26. Schools invited to apply for first round of Federal Government’s computers-in-schools program.
27. Political donations under $10,000.
28. Documents that form the key part of research into the proposed western Brisbane transport network.
29. Briefing notes provided to ministers when Peter Beattie handed over to Anna Bligh last year.
30. Crime statistics for the lowest divisional levels (only regional and district levels are released).
31. Results of audits at Queensland mines as part of a crackdown on safety standards.
32. Details of Main Roads study into the department’s own commissioned work on the Captain Cook Bridge.
33. Details of the almost 11,000 documents exempted from freedom of information searches last year because they were taken to Cabinet.
34. The number of public servants whose jobs are dedicated to media relations.
35. How many submissions were considered before council amalgamations were decided.
36. The restaurants prosecuted for breaching health guidelines.
37. The regions where the most convicted pedophiles are living.
38. Which ministers have sought the advice of the integrity commissioner and why they sought that advice.
39. The advice the Crime and Misconduct Commission gives the government and the DPP.
40. The rates of sexually transmitted disease in indigenous communities.
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Premier Anna Bligh blames media’s artificial deadlines
By Steven Wardill
June 19, 2008
PREMIER Anna Bligh says claims her Government hides information from the public are wrong - and the real problem is the media’s “artificial” deadlines.
In a letter to Labor MP Grace Grace, Ms Bligh insisted her Government was willing to release information but was often presented with detailed queries that needed more time to answer than the questioners would like.
She said those wanting detailed information needed to be more aware of the scope and size of the Government’s operations.
“In this context, inability to provide a detailed response when presented with an artificial deadline should not be interpreted as an unwillingness to supply the information,” she wrote.
The Premier’s letter was prompted by a constituent of Ms Grace, who was disturbed after reading a report in The Courier-Mail that highlighted 40 examples of Government secrecy.
The secrets included the full secondary school overall position ratings, overcrowded train figures and the identities of restaurants prosecuted for breaching health guidelines -
a volume of information so large it undermined Ms Bligh’s claim her Government was beginning a new era of openness and accountability.
Ms Bligh insisted the “overwhelming bulk” of the reasons behind the failure to release details of the 40 secrets could be easily explained and that her personal approach favoured releasing information.
“While the question of whether government is legally obligated to release information is important, the real question for me is whether there is a genuine reason not to release information,” she said.
“This is the standard of proof I want adopted under my leadership.”
Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said it was proving much easier for Ms Bligh to talk about openness than to deliver it.
“It is one thing to talk the talk, but it is another thing to walk the walk,” Mr Springborg said.
He said the Opposition had sought answers to some of the 40 secrets through questions on notice in Parliament, but the Government had failed to answer the questions within the 30-day time limit.
One of the few questions the Government did answer was the number of people employed in media and public relations roles: 367.
Mr Springborg said he had originally believed Ms Bligh could deliver on her promise of improved openness after the Beattie years.
“What we have seen in recent months certainly hasn’t given us reason to hope,” Mr Springborg said.
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