The Victorian government under Prime Minister Daniel Andrews claims to have lost a ministerial letter over the controversial issue of whether to change the date of Australia Day and has also refused to release a draft.
The Victorian Information Commissioner has ordered the Victorian Government to release the draft letter drafted in response to an email sent to Mr Andrews on 31 December 2020 demanding that Australia Day not be observed on 26 January.
The Victorian Government argues that because it is only a draft, releasing it ‘would be against the public interest’ and could cause ‘confusion and unnecessary debate’.
Opposition Liberal MP David Davis, who made the Freedom of Information request to get the correspondence, told Daily Mail Australia the incident is “bizarre” and appears to be in breach of ministerial regulations.
“I think you can only conclude that it is a letter that can break new ground in this area,” he said.
“They claim to have lost the last letter sent, which is bizarre.
Government of Victorian Prime Minister Dan Andrews refuses to release draft correspondence surrounding an official response to a member of the public demanding Australia’s date changed
‘It is clearly a violation of the duties of the Archives Act. It’s very simple or elegant language that you have to take care of records and protect them.’
The email from an unnamed member of the public was sent to Mr Andrews on December 31, 2020.
‘Change the date. Yes, it’s as simple as that, I believe as a white person in power you need to understand the power and privileges you have,” the email reads.
January 26 is invasion day. I know you know this, I know you know this day is wrong, I know you think you can’t change the date… the only reason I can fathom for resisting changing the date is white privilege, or maybe even racism! ‘
In response, the Prime Minister’s Department sent a draft letter to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs (now called the Minister of Treaty and First Peoples) to reply.
Deputy Commissioner for Public Access, Joanne Kummrow, has rejected the government’s argument that releasing the draft is ‘not in the public interest’.
An email to Mr Andrews demanded Australia Day no longer be celebrated on January 26 as it was a ‘shameful’ commemoration of racism
“I note the agency’s concern that disclosure could lead to confusion or unnecessary discussion about the state government’s final response to questions about changing the date of Australia Day,” she said.
“I don’t agree that revealing it would lead to this outcome in this case.”
Davis said the Andrews government is addicted to secrecy.
“They will do everything they can to prevent the release of harmful information,” he said.
“They will use every legal maneuver and trick in the book and it seems they can’t get past the loss of documents. You have to ask what’s going on here?
“There is a huge amount of advice that they are not releasing. They use hundreds of thousands, even millions, of taxpayers’ money to block the release of information that should be public.
State Opposition MP David Davis claims Andrews government will do everything it can to hide ‘harmful information’
“It’s arrogance and there are a number of law firms that do well with this.”
The state government still has a week to release the draft to comply with the commissioner’s ruling, but it can appeal the decision.
While the Andrews government has previously not favored a change to Australia Day’s date, it has canceled this year’s official parade.
“National holidays are a matter for the federal government,” a state government spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.
The spokesman also defended the record on freedom of information, saying that “96 percent of the record 43,978 FOI requests to the government in 2021-22 were met in whole or in part.”
Last week, Victoria’s independent parliamentary budget officer Anthony Close, who had criticized the lack of transparency surrounding the state government’s true financial position, was sacked despite a parliamentary committee ruling that he should stay on.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said the decision was made because Mr Close wanted a two-year contract, but the government was only willing to issue a four-year contract.
In October 2021, Ms Kummrow ordered the Victorian Government to release Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton’s advice that led to more than 262 days of lockdown during the Covid period.
The government has been challenging this order in the courts ever since.