ABC News: Queensland: Friday, September 14,
2018.
A new mining and gas rehabilitation fund
to contain hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from resources
companies will be shrouded in secrecy, with the Queensland Government granting
a blanket exclusion from right to information requests after industry concerns.
Key points:
Information
Commissioner and Transparency International raised concerns about changing RTI
Act to protect resources industry
QRC says without the
exemption, mining company information will fall into the hands of competitors
Greens describe
exclusion as "bizarre" as it is already "exceptionally
difficult" to access information under right to information
The information watchdog and Transparency
International have raised the alarm about changing the Right to Information
(RTI) Act to protect industry, when it was the public that paid the price when
companies did not fulfil their rehabilitation obligations.
The new scheme will force about 150
resource companies to contribute into a pool of money to be used for
rehabilitation for abandoned sites, and some will have to give a surety.
Mine closure plans and costs will be made
public, but details about how much a company has to pay into the fund and how
risky the project is, will be kept secret.
Exemptions from the RTI Act are rare, and
largely limited to documents relating to intelligence, terrorism, surveillance,
police operations and personal details.
Very few exemptions have been granted
over the last decade, as the RTI Act already protects sensitive documents
including business and financial information.
A report to the State Government
reviewing the RTI Act in 2017 recommended there be no further exclusions and,
in fact, it argued for the removal of an existing exemption.
Despite this recommendation, the
Government is amending the Act to exempt all documents created or received by
the rehabilitation fund "scheme manager" and their staff, after
"significant concerns" from industry stakeholders.
In a scathing submission to Government,
Queensland's Information Commissioner slammed the "blanket exclusion"
as unnecessary and overly broad.
It was also inconsistent with policy and
a proactive approach to releasing information in the public interest.
Transparency International chief
executive Serena Lilleywhite said it appeared to be a "blatant
example" of Government being influenced by industry into a decision that
was not necessarily in the public interest.
"It does seem at odds with the
Government's own review and it does seem that this is yet another example of
undue influence by industry groups to try and encourage or influence the
Government to make policy decisions," Ms Lilleywhite said.
"It really does fly in the face of
pro-integrity best practice within Government."
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC)
said it had not lobbied Government for the amendment but "sought
assurances" financial information would be protected.
Blanket exclusion not justified: Information Commissioner
The Government has said the exclusions
were made to "respond to significant concerns raised by industry
stakeholders about the potential for disclosure of financial documents which
would ordinarily only be provided to financial institutions".
Mr Macfarlane said without the exemption,
company information would fall into the hands of competitors.
"This information would then leak
out or be passed out through the right to information and the financial
viability of the company would be placed in jeopardy and the company would
potentially collapse," Mr Macfarlane said.
Mr Macfarlane said companies were
"apprehensive and extremely nervous" about handing over financial
documents to the Government.
"So it needed an assurance from the
Government that, that information would be held totally confidentially,"
he said.
But the Information Commissioner said the
current RTI legislative framework was "sufficient" to protect these
documents.
"It is critical that individual
legislative proposals are considered in the context of the broader policy and
departures from such are clearly justified," the submission said.
"In this case, the [Government] do
not provide a compelling case to justify an exclusion from the operation of the
RTI Act."
Exclusion is 'narrow': Government
Queensland Treasury has described the
exclusions to the RTI Act as "narrow in scope" to provide
"protection to commercial-in confidence information statutorily required
by the scheme manager".
Transparency International also argued
the confidentiality requirements that exist in the RTI Act were adequate to protect
sensitive information.
"This is a matter that is of public
interest and the community is very keen to understand exactly how mining
companies are preparing for end of mine life or mine closure, and equally there
is also the issue that if not enough money is allocated by the mining
companies," Ms Lilleywhite said.
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