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| Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a second time. The primary purpose of the Public Information Bill is to establish a transparent and accountable mechanism for the review of public information produced by public authorities. This review process will ensure public funds are used appropriately to provide the public with information which does not promote party political interests, and clearly differentiates between facts and opinion. As honourable members would agree, an essential role for any government is the provision of comprehensive information to the public about government policies, programs, and services which impact on their rights and obligations, and for a democracy to be successful, political parties and politicians should be able to engage in free and open debate about each others views and policies in the public arena. However, where these cross over it can result in claims information given to the public has been politicised, is misleading, or inaccurate. This legislation is groundbreaking. There is no precedent in the Territory, or any other Australian jurisdiction, for legislative mechanisms to review public information as proposed by this bill, and is another example of my government’s commitment to being transparent and accountable. Considerable work has been undertaken to examine the options available to review public information, in particular the type of information which should be subject to review, the most appropriate person to conduct the review, the type of review and referral mechanisms, and the framework to review public information. This bill provides power for the Auditor-General to review information given to the public by members of the Assembly and government departments, and to advise this Assembly if the content of public information contravenes the following principles contained in the bill in relation to the provision of public information. Those principles are that the content of public information: � must not promote party political interests; or � include statements which are misleading or factually inaccurate; or � clearly distinguish a statement and facts from a statement of comments. The Auditor-General will review public information to determine whether the information has contravened these principles, and will be able to make recommendations in relation to his findings. This role provides significant new power to the Auditor-General, and should not be underestimated. Whilst I consider the Auditor-General is the most appropriate person to perform this role, I am cognisant it would be undesirable for the Auditor-General’s independence to be compromised. This Assembly relies on the Auditor-General to provide independent advice that government activities are carried out consistent with the Assembly’s intention and it would be inappropriate for the Auditor-General to be perceived as having any part in the decision making role for the provision of information to the public. Under the proposed arrangements the Auditor-General will conduct a post assurance review of public information referred to him by a member of this Assembly, or of the Auditor-General’s own initiative. The bill will be supported by a set of guidelines to assist public authorities in their compliance with the principles, and the Auditor-General in his review role. These guidelines will be necessarily prescriptive, and set the criteria for the standards and content of the types of public information produced by government ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, members of this Assembly, and government agencies. I turn to the specific elements of the bill. Part 1 of the bill deals with preliminary matters, including the objects upon which the bill is drafted, and contains the central interpretation clause of the bill. In relation to specific interpretation clauses, it defines the basic concepts of what does and does not constituent public information, and what a public authority is. The definition of public information is very broad, and extends to any information given to the public which utilises money or property of the Territory. Information produced by a member of this Assembly for their electorate using their electorate allowance, and media releases of a member of this Assembly are excluded from the purview of the Auditor-General. It is considered that honourable members should retain the discretion over the use of their electoral allowance and that free debate about the policies of the government and the opposition should be able to continue through the use of media releases. This part also defines the bodies that not public authorities as a judge, magistrate or person acting in a judicial capacity - for example, the Coroner, the Auditor-General, a local government council, the Territory Insurance Office and Power and Water or a person or body prescribed by regulation. Part 2 of the bill establishes the functions and the powers of the Auditor-General in relation to the review of public information. The Auditor-General must, at the written request of a member of this Assembly, conduct a review of an item of public information to determine whether it contravenes the principles relating to public information. Strengthening the Auditor-General’s independence and that of the review process is the ability for the Auditor-General, under his own initiative, to undertake a review of an item of public information if he believes that an item of public information may be in breach. The Auditor-General will have complete discretion about how the review is to be conducted, but must have regard to the guidelines created under this bill when determining if the item of public information has breached the principles. The Auditor-General will be required to prepare a report for tabling in this Assembly about the review. The report must specify whether the Auditor-General determines that the information breaches the principles, and the reasons for his determination. For example, the Auditor-General may find that an item of public information promotes party political interests because it uses a slogan or photographs that are associated with a political party. At any time in the process of conducting a review if the Auditor-General considers that an item of public information may breach the principles, prior to finalising his report the Auditor-General can recommend to the public authority responsible for providing that information that it be withdrawn or modified. The public authority must consider the recommendation and decide whether or not to implement the recommendation. Some commentators may be of the opinion that the provision only allowing the Auditor-General to make recommendations is inadequate and that the Auditor-General should have the power to direct a public authority withdraw or modify the public information. A recommendation made by the Auditor-General to withdraw or modify the information should not be taken lightly. In the event that a public authority chose not to act on a recommendation, and the public information was found to be in breach of the principles, the public authority would be answerable to this Assembly to explain the reasons for their decision. As I have previously indicated, I am cognisant that above all else the Auditor-General’s independence should not be compromised and there should be no perception that the Auditor-General is in any way involved in any facet of public administration. This Assembly relies on the Auditor-General, an independent statutory officer, to provide it with information about whether government activities are being carried out and accounted for consistent with parliament’s intentions. Legal advice obtained supports the position that it would be inappropriate for the Auditor-General, an officer of parliament whose traditional role it is to assist and report to parliament independent of the Executive government, have a power to direct facets of public administration. This part also contains a natural justice provision requiring the Auditor-General allow a public authority the opportunity to provide comments in relation to the findings of his review. The Auditor-General must then consider the public authority’s comments when finalising his report. Part 3 of the bill provides the power to create guidelines to support the legislation. The purpose of the guidelines will be to assist public authorities in their compliance with the legislation. By their nature the guidelines will also assist the Auditor-General in determining whether an item of public information has breached the principles relating to the provision of public information. Part 4 contains a standard transitional provision providing that the Auditor-General can only review public information given to the public on, or after, the date the act commences. Part 5 is a consequential amendment to the Audit Act to extend the power of the Auditor-General to undertake the functions relating to the review of public information. This is necessary giving limited scope of the Auditor-General’s powers under the act which are primarily related to financial audits. In conclusion I am confident that this bill provides an independent and transparent mechanism to review public information. It will allow a government to continue to connect with the public to provide information about programs which their taxes fund, but will also increase accountability and provide the public with confidence that the public information is objective, factual and free from political bias. Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill. Debate adjourned. |