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| George Brandis must process Labor request to see parts of his diary, tribunal rules | George Brandis must process Labor request to see parts of his diary, tribunal rules |
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| George Brandis must continue to process a request by shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus for access to his ministerial diary, the administrative appeals tribunal has ruled. | George Brandis must continue to process a request by shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus for access to his ministerial diary, the administrative appeals tribunal has ruled. |
| On Tuesday the tribunal ruled that a request from Dreyfus for access to extracts of Brandis’s meeting schedules in his diary be approved. | On Tuesday the tribunal ruled that a request from Dreyfus for access to extracts of Brandis’s meeting schedules in his diary be approved. |
| Dreyfus has been seeking access under freedom of information laws to the attorney’s ministerial calendar of appointments since May 2014. | Dreyfus has been seeking access under freedom of information laws to the attorney’s ministerial calendar of appointments since May 2014. |
| Brandis’s office had not claimed the diary was exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act, but rather sought to stop processing the request on the grounds that it was a substantial and unreasonable interference with his functions. | Brandis’s office had not claimed the diary was exempt from release under the Freedom of Information Act, but rather sought to stop processing the request on the grounds that it was a substantial and unreasonable interference with his functions. |
| At a hearing in November the tribunal heard evidence from Brandis’s chief of staff, Paul O’Sullivan, that processing the diary extracts was a substantial burden because it would require more than 100 consultations with people the attorney general had met over the period requested. | At a hearing in November the tribunal heard evidence from Brandis’s chief of staff, Paul O’Sullivan, that processing the diary extracts was a substantial burden because it would require more than 100 consultations with people the attorney general had met over the period requested. |
| Dreyfus, who cross-examined O’Sullivan in the proceedings, told the tribunal Brandis’s refusal to process the request was “an untenable position to adopt having regard to his staffing and resources available to him”, and that he had “clutched at every straw” to resist processing the request. | |
| The ruling by Justice Jayne Jagot does not mean Brandis is required to release the extracts, just that his office must continue to process the request. | |
| In 2010, Liberal MP Paul Fletcher sought access to the diary of then prime minister Julia Gillard, and the request was refused by the prime minister’s office for the same reasons being invoked in the Brandis matter. | In 2010, Liberal MP Paul Fletcher sought access to the diary of then prime minister Julia Gillard, and the request was refused by the prime minister’s office for the same reasons being invoked in the Brandis matter. |