TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT – AUSTRALIA

PM has a secret China chat, as Xi’s Trump call sparks Taiwan fears

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 26-Nov-25

The federal government’s commitment to transparency is under renewed scrutiny after it declined to reveal what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed in a private meeting with one of China’s most senior politicians, Zhao Leji. Albanese’s office said the meeting with the chairman of the National People’s Congress was a private conversation, and contended that it is only required to disclose the details of meetings with a nation’s leader. It is uncertain as to whether Albanese raised the issue of Taiwan with Zhao; however, Chinese President Xi Jinping has asserted during a phone call to US counterpart Donald Trump that returning Taiwan to China’s control is on his government’s agenda.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Labor truth tax set to be blocked

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Original article by Sarah Ison, James Madden
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 3-Sep-25

The federal government’s proposal to charge a fee for submitting Freedom of Information requests appears set to be defeated. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley contends that Australians "should never have to pay for the truth", while she adds that secrecy is the "refuge of weak governments". The Greens have also criticised Labor’s proposal to impose a fee for FOI requests and ban people from making anonymous applications; justice spokesman David Shoebridge says the latter measure is another attack by Labor against "whistleblowers and truth tellers" within the government. Communications Minister Anika Wells has defended the legislation, arguing that the deluge of automated FOI requests is diverting public servants from important work.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Consultancy firms win nearly $1bn in Australian contracts in past year despite new outsourcing rules, research shows

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Original article by Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 26-Aug-25

Analysis undertaken by the Parliamentary Library on behalf of the Greens shows that the value of federal government contracts with consulting firms rose to $968m in 2024-25; this is 48 per cent higher than the previous financial year. However, the value of public contracts with the four major consulting firms – PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte – fell from $138m in 2023-24 to $114m. Greens senator Barbara Pocock says the analysis shows that while the government claims that it is spending less on consultants, it is merely shifting these contracts from the "big four" to other firms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ERNST AND YOUNG, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED

Albanese’s budget deficit lie challenged

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 30-Apr-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is continuing to attract scrutiny over his claims regarding the size of the budget deficit that Labor inherited in May 2022. Albanese recently responded to a report from S&P Global on the future of Australia’s triple-A credit rating by stating that the Coalition had left Labor with a $78bn deficit, which it subsequently turned into a $22bn surplus. However, the $78bn deficit was merely a Treasury forecast during the 2022 election campaign, and the final budget outcome for 2021-22 was a deficit of just $32bn. The surplus of $22bn was in fact for 2022-23, which was Labor’s first full financial year in office.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Public service’s dirt job for Chalmers

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 26-Feb-25

The federal government is continuing to attract scrutiny over claims that it had asked the Treasury to undertake costings on the Coalition’s proposal to offer tax breaks of up to $20,000 for small businesses. Treasury is not permitted to provide the government of the day with costings on the opposition’s policies. However, a series of emails between senior Treasury officials and the office of Treasurer Jim Chalmers shows that the Treasury was aware that it was modelling Coalition policy. Chalmers has publicly stated that he had asked Treasury to cost the policy; shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has accused him of using the Treasury as his personal "dirt unit".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Libs pan Chalmers over gross politicisation of public service

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 12-Feb-25

Shadow finance minister Jane Hume has criticised the federal government for getting Treasury officials to undertake costings for the Coalition’s proposal to give small businesses a tax deduction of up to $20,000 a year for business lunches. The major political parties have traditionally not costed each others policies since the independent Parliamentary Budget Office was established. Hume says public servants must not engage in ‘political activities’ as part of their employment, and she has urged Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer to emphasise this in the lead-up to the federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

ALP hidden spending to top $87b

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Original article by Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Nov-24

The federal government’s growing trend towards ‘off-budget’ spending will be a key contributor to the overall deficit blowout that Deloitte Access Economics has forecast. The firm expects the government to post an underlying deficit of $33.5bn for 2024-25, but it estimates that the headline deficit will be $54.8bn. Economist Chris Richardson says the latter figure deserves greater scrutiny, as it can be used to conceal the real state of the nation’s finances. So-called off-budget spending – which does not affect the budget deficit or surplus – is forecast to reach a record $87.1bn over the next four years.

CORPORATES
DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Push to upgrade freebie Albanese to corruption watchdog

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Geoff Chambers, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 30-Oct-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is continuing to attract scrutiny over revelations that he accepted free flight upgrades from Qantas when he was transport minister and shadow transport minister. However, Albanese contends that he has been "completely transparent" about his flights as an MP. Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Albanese had most likely been in breach of the ministerial code of conduct. Dutton has called for Albanese to refer himself to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, arguing that it should investigate his relationship with Qantas and the federal government’s decision to block Qatar Airways’ application for additional flights to Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION, QATAR AIRWAYS

Giles ‘breached ministerial code of conduct’: Coalition

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 14-Aug-24

Former immigration minister Andrew Giles continues to attract scrutiny over his handling of the portfolio. Documents obtained via freedom of information laws show that Giles was aware that at least 83 immigration detainees had been released into the community without bridging visas in the wake of the High Court’s landmark NZYQ ruling. However, Giles had told question time in November that all detainees who were required to be released into the community were on bridging visas. Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson contends that Giles had breached the ministerial code of conduct and should resign for misleading parliament.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

‘More secretive than the Morrison government’: Labor accused of transparency failure

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Original article by Amy Remeikis
The Guardian – Page: Online : 18-Jun-24

When they were in opposition, Labor MPs were critical of the Morrison government over what they claimed was its secrecy and its failure to deal with issues of transparency issues. However, independent MPs, who were elected on a platform to boost transparency and restore trust in Australian democracy, claim that Labor is more secretive in government than the Morrison government was. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who has been in federal parliament for 14 years, rates the Albanese government as a "a fail for transparency", while fellow independent MP Helen Haines contends the major parties only believe in transparency when they are in opposition.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY