❓ Mr. Templeman questions the Minister for Local Government about denying access to documents regarding the City of Perth and City of Vincent amalgamation options under Freedom of Information. The Minister defends the decision, citing cabinet confidentiality and the ongoing public submission process.
AnsweredQoN 265Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT
OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITIES — AMALGAMATIONS — FREEDOM
OF INFORMATION REQUEST
265. Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN to the
Minister for Local Government:
I refer to my freedom of information application concerning
advice to the minister on amalgamation options for the City of Perth and the
City of Vincent.
(1) Will the
minister overturn his department's decision to refuse access to at
least nine documents relating to Perth and Vincent amalgamation options; and,
if not, why not?
(2) Does the
minister agree with his department's decision that the release of these
documents ''may mislead the public and encourage ill-informed
speculation''?
OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITIES — AMALGAMATIONS — FREEDOM
OF INFORMATION REQUEST
265. Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN to the
Minister for Local Government:
I refer to my freedom of information application concerning
advice to the minister on amalgamation options for the City of Perth and the
City of Vincent.
(1) Will the
minister overturn his department's decision to refuse access to at
least nine documents relating to Perth and Vincent amalgamation options; and,
if not, why not?
(2) Does the
minister agree with his department's decision that the release of these
documents ''may mislead the public and encourage ill-informed
speculation''?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Mandurah for the question.
(1)–(2)
The freedom of information requests have been coming in thick and fast during
this process. The member may remember our first round of maps in July when we
tried to come up with a proposal that made the City of Perth widen its
footprint to take in parts of Northbridge and parts of Vincent and south down
to the university. That model went out through the public submissions process.
We had a lot of debate about it. I think the campaign of the member for Perth
was one in, all in with Vincent, recognising that Vincent is an inner-city area
and part of the city, so we came back with that proposal. I imagine there are a
number of other models around. As I said before, every time we draw a line on a
map, it impacts on one and not the other one —
Mr D.A. Templeman :
These were nine documents.
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : I agree.
Mr
D.A. Templeman interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah!
Mr A.J. SIMPSON :
These documents are made up of a cabinet submission, so we have gone through a
lot of work. I believe that the department has it right. We just finished a
six-week public submission period so that the public could have input into this
process.
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Mandurah, I have given you a question and I will give you a
supplementary question; I do not want to hear from you.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON :
This process has gone through a six-week advertising period calling for
submissions from the general public. We are now waiting for the Local
Government Advisory Board to come back with a response. Releasing that now will
not make any difference at all.
(1)–(2)
The freedom of information requests have been coming in thick and fast during
this process. The member may remember our first round of maps in July when we
tried to come up with a proposal that made the City of Perth widen its
footprint to take in parts of Northbridge and parts of Vincent and south down
to the university. That model went out through the public submissions process.
We had a lot of debate about it. I think the campaign of the member for Perth
was one in, all in with Vincent, recognising that Vincent is an inner-city area
and part of the city, so we came back with that proposal. I imagine there are a
number of other models around. As I said before, every time we draw a line on a
map, it impacts on one and not the other one —
Mr D.A. Templeman :
These were nine documents.
Mr
A.J. SIMPSON : I agree.
Mr
D.A. Templeman interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah!
Mr A.J. SIMPSON :
These documents are made up of a cabinet submission, so we have gone through a
lot of work. I believe that the department has it right. We just finished a
six-week public submission period so that the public could have input into this
process.
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Mandurah, I have given you a question and I will give you a
supplementary question; I do not want to hear from you.
Mr A.J. SIMPSON :
This process has gone through a six-week advertising period calling for
submissions from the general public. We are now waiting for the Local
Government Advisory Board to come back with a response. Releasing that now will
not make any difference at all.
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