❓ Opposition MP questions the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure regarding transparency in the sale of land and office rental agreement at 140 William Street, specifically concerning the tabling of tender evaluation reports and the business case. The Minister defends the decision citing commercial sensitivity and potential misinterpretation.
AnsweredQoN 5623Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) Why won’t the Minister accede to a Parliamentary request to table the tender evaluation report concerning the sale of land at 140 William Street, even if information concerning the bidders’ intellectual property was removed from the report?
(2) Why is the Minister refusing to table a copy of the Government’s office rental agreement with the successful bidder?
(3) Is the Minister aware that the
Freedom of Information Act
makes it clear that documents are not exempt from freedom of information merely because they are submitted to Cabinet?
(4) If yes to (3), why is the Minister relying on Cabinet confidentiality to refuse to table the business case supporting the Government’s decision to enter into an office rental agreement for the 140 William St development?
(2) Why is the Minister refusing to table a copy of the Government’s office rental agreement with the successful bidder?
(3) Is the Minister aware that the
Freedom of Information Act
makes it clear that documents are not exempt from freedom of information merely because they are submitted to Cabinet?
(4) If yes to (3), why is the Minister relying on Cabinet confidentiality to refuse to table the business case supporting the Government’s decision to enter into an office rental agreement for the 140 William St development?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
18 February 2008
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure
Response time
95 days
It is presumed that the member is referring to his own request for the document.
1 The suggested removal of the Intellectual property from the Request for Proposal evaluation report for 140 William Street would render the document incoherent and potentially lead to misunderstanding of how the process was undertaken and the recommendation was arrived at. Therefore, again it would not be fair or appropriate for the details to be made public.
2 The assertion embedded in this question is incorrect. In question 5014 the member requested that the details of the rental agreement be tabled. Those details were tabled in the answer given.
To recap the Commercial Property Branch of Department of Housing and Works will be paying $345 per square metre per annum in rent (on behalf of the government) exclusive of GST and escalating by 3.5% per year. In addition it will pay outgoings capped at $144.10 per square metre from 2009/10. These are excellent rates and represent great value for the taxpayers of Western Australia.
3 & 4 Schedule 1 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
details the exemptions that can be applied to matters that would reveal the deliberations or decisions of an Executive body. Clearly, exemptions can be applied to documents that would reveal the deliberations or decisions of Cabinet.
In addition Schedule one of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
allows information to be excluded on the grounds that disclosure would reasonably be affected to have an adverse effect on business, professional, commercial or financial affairs or could predjudice the future supply of information of that kind to government. Disclosure of the business case supporting the Government's decision to enter into an office rental agreement for the 140 William St development could well have these effects.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
1 The suggested removal of the Intellectual property from the Request for Proposal evaluation report for 140 William Street would render the document incoherent and potentially lead to misunderstanding of how the process was undertaken and the recommendation was arrived at. Therefore, again it would not be fair or appropriate for the details to be made public.
2 The assertion embedded in this question is incorrect. In question 5014 the member requested that the details of the rental agreement be tabled. Those details were tabled in the answer given.
To recap the Commercial Property Branch of Department of Housing and Works will be paying $345 per square metre per annum in rent (on behalf of the government) exclusive of GST and escalating by 3.5% per year. In addition it will pay outgoings capped at $144.10 per square metre from 2009/10. These are excellent rates and represent great value for the taxpayers of Western Australia.
3 & 4 Schedule 1 of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
details the exemptions that can be applied to matters that would reveal the deliberations or decisions of an Executive body. Clearly, exemptions can be applied to documents that would reveal the deliberations or decisions of Cabinet.
In addition Schedule one of the
Freedom of Information Act 1992
allows information to be excluded on the grounds that disclosure would reasonably be affected to have an adverse effect on business, professional, commercial or financial affairs or could predjudice the future supply of information of that kind to government. Disclosure of the business case supporting the Government's decision to enter into an office rental agreement for the 140 William St development could well have these effects.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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