Opposition FOI spokesman criticised for breach of Act

5/5/94

State Opposition Freedom of Information and Planning spokesperson John Kolbelke has deliberately ignored a directive from the Freedom of Information Commissioner that information provided to him by the Commissioner should not be made public.

Planning Minister Richard Lewis said today he had received advice from the Freedom of Information Commission that Mr Kobelke had breached the Act by providing journalists with access to documents relating to an FOI appeal.

"I understand that the FOI Commissioner will be writing to Mr Kobelke and to the presiding officers of Parliament later today outlining the exact nature of his offence," Mr Lewis said.

"This breach is all the more significant because Mr Kobelke has been given the responsibility for managing the carriage of FOI on behalf of the Opposition.

"By his actions he has significantly undermined the integrity of the previous Labor Government's FOI legislation and displayed a contempt for Parliament and its institutions, of which the FOI Commission is now an important part."

Mr Lewis said Mr Kobelke's actions clearly demonstrated a total disregard for the law in pursuit of cheap political point-scoring.

"As I have made clear to Mr Kobelke throughout this debate, it has always been my intention to preserve public confidence in the Appeal process, and I have sought bi-partisan support for this position," the Minister said.

"It is a gross distortion of the facts for Mr Kobelke to claim that I have attempted at every turn to frustrate access to these documents - nothing could be further from the truth.

"It is for this reason that in January this year I provided Mr Kobelke with a copy of the report on the concrete batching plant, which was prepared by a member of the Town Planning Appeal Committee.

"A copy of the letter advising of my decision was also made available.  This was done to demonstrate that there was nothing underhand in the decision-making process with regard to this appeal.

"This was a goodwill gesture on my part which has not been reciprocated by Mr Kobelke, who has resorted to hawking around a highly-coloured and selective version of events.

"His actions show that he is more interested in mounting a cheap political stunt than in acting with any real concern for the public, which relies on the appeal system to redress its grievances."

Media contact:  Paul Plowman 222 9595