MEDIA STATEMENT 5 March 2026
Today’s collapse of Labor’s Freedom of Information Amendment Bill is a victory for transparency, accountability and every Australian’s right to know.
For months as the former Shadow Attorney-General, I warned that this Bill was a direct attack on the public’s ability to scrutinise their own government. It would have expanded secrecy, increased the barriers to accessing Government information and weakened one of the most important democratic safeguards we have.
The Albanese Government tried to push these changes through quietly. But the Coalition fought back every step of the way.
In Parliament, I led the charge in scrutinising this legislation, putting detailed questions to the Government and exposing the serious concerns raised by transparency experts, the legal profession, media organisations and civil society groups.
Those concerns were clear. This Bill had no friends outside the bureaucracy because Australians could see exactly what it was: a power grab designed to ingrain government secrecy and make accountability harder.
Today the Government has been forced into a humiliating retreat.
Freedom of Information is not a privilege granted by governments when it suits them. It is a fundamental democratic safeguard that allows citizens, journalists and the Parliament to hold those in power to account.
The Coalition will always defend that principle.
This outcome did not happen by accident. It happened because the Coalition stood firm, because stakeholders across Australia spoke up, and because the Albanese Government was ultimately forced to concede that its secretive approach had no support in the Senate or across the Australian community.
Australians expect transparency from their government, not secrecy.
While Labor may try to bring forward another attempt to weaken the FOI framework in the future, they should be under no illusion. The Coalition will continue to stand up for transparency and defend the public’s right to know.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au