Corruption-busting barrister Geoffrey Watson, SC, has accused the Albanese government of “bully boy” tactics as it fights a Freedom of Information ruling that would reveal where nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines would be stored.
Labor is appealing a decision from the nation’s administrative tribunal that the material should be released under transparency laws as a matter of public interest. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources is demanding the applicant, former South Australian senator Rex Patrick, cover its legal costs – which with his own lawyer’s fees could reach $300,000 – should he fight and lose.
While Defence Minister Richard Marles has said Australia has decades to select the site, which would be on current or future Defence land, identifying potential dump sites has been controversial since the pact was first announced in 2021.
Victoria, Queensland and South Australia have already ruled hosting such a site. NSW and West Australia have not officially ruled out storage, although it would require legal changes. The Northern Territory has laws prohibiting nuclear waste storage, but could be overruled by a future federal government.
Crossbenchers on Monday accused the government of attempting to squash scrutiny, warning it set a dangerous precedent for an already cumbersome FOI regime. Senator Jacqui Lambie will table reforms to the parliament this week that would require the government to cover reasonable legal costs if it chose to appeal an FOI decision.
Watson, who lead the inquiry into CFMEU corruption, joined politicians in Canberra to accuse the government of trying to keep its dealings secret from the public.
“It’s an attempt to stymie these cases being brought forward,” he said at a press conference.
Watson said the government was imitating a tactic he became familiar with while working in corporate law, where well-funded firms drove smaller litigants into cheap settlements or drove them away.
“It’s a bully boy tactic. Now what I’m disappointed to see is that that’s been ... picked up by the federal government, trying to use precisely the same tactic to try and stop ordinary citizens from pursuing their entitlement to see these documents,” Watson said.
He said it was just the latest attempt to hamper scrutiny, after Labor’s plans to hike fees for FOI requests was abandoned in March.
The government was forced to abandon the move in March after failing to secure support from the opposition in the upper house.
Lambie on Monday accused Albanese of breaking his promise to lead a more transparent government.
“[Labor’s] transparency record is absolutely shameful,” she said. “Start doing the right thing by Australians.”
Patrick, who now works as an FOI consultant, said the demand for costs would have a chilling effect on the average Australian without the resources or know-how to fight the government in court.
“Anyone who wins an FOI could lose their house simply because the government doesn’t like a decision,” he said.
“Imagine being a successful FOI applicant; you just want to deal with the scrutiny of your government, you just want to participate in democracy, and suddenly ... you have to go to court.
“It could be a journalist, it could be a regular citizen, it could be a not-for-profit just seeking access to information to be able to do their job.”
Patrick said the government was seeking legal costs if it successfully appeals both the nuclear waste FOI decision and a separate case relating to the Foreign Investment Review Board.
“In each of these cases, when they’ve appealed, they’ve approached me privately and said, ‘How about you simply back off? We go back to the tribunal, and then you won’t have to deal with the costs associated with this issue.’ So there’s no doubt in my mind that this is a bullying tactic.”
A spokesman for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the government would consider Lambie’s bill “through the usual processes”.
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