DOCUMENTS

Senator DEAN SMITH (Western Australia) (16:06): I move: That the Senate— (a) notes that order for the production of documents no. 100, agreed to on 26 August 2025, required the Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to table all volumes of the incoming government brief prepared by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for the incoming minister after the May 2025 federal election by no later than midday on 1 September 2025; (b) notes that, in initially responding to the order on 3 October 2025, the minister did not provide Volume 1 of the brief and Volume 2 was presented with redactions; (c) notes that the minister did not address why Volume 1 was not provided or why Volume 2 was presented with redactions, other than noting that briefs have been released publicly in response to a freedom of information (FOI) request 'with exemptions applied in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act'; (d) notes that a further response was tabled on 27 October 2025 attaching Volume 1 with significant redactions and raising a public interest immunity claim on the basis that disclosure of the material would: (i) compromise the Australian Public Service's role in managing the transition from one government to another, (ii) be prejudicial to relationships with the states, or (iii) undermine international relations; (e) notes the response further stated that content within the document relates to possible deliberations of Cabinet; Initial response to the order (f) notes that: (i) when the Senate orders ministers to produce documents, they are obliged to do so, subject to the determination by the Senate of any claim that it would not be in the public interest to comply, and (ii) public interest immunity claims must be accompanied by a statement of the ground for that conclusion, specifying the harm to the public interest that could result from the production of the document in the Senate; (g) rejects the direct application of the exemption categories in the FOI Act to orders for the production of documents because they do not provide an adequate basis for withholding information or documents from the Senate; Subsequent response to the order (h) rejects the public interest immunity claims raised for the following reasons: (i) the Senate does not consider that disclosure of advice provided to an incoming government would jeopardise the provision of future advice or the development of relationships with incoming governments, and in this regard notes that in other countries with systems of responsible government, such as New Zealand, incoming government briefs are proactively released to the public, (ii) it is unclear how full disclosure would harm relationships between the Commonwealth and the states, or whether the states have been consulted in relation to potential disclosure to the Senate, (iii) it is unclear how full disclosure would undermine international relations, (iv) the fact that material may relate to possible future deliberations of the Cabinet is not an adequate reason for withholding the production of the material to the Senate, and (v) production of the unredacted documents would support the Senate in undertaking its role of scrutinising government action and legislation within the portfolio; and Further action required (i) requires the minister, by no later than midday on 30 October 2025, to either: (i) fully comply with order for the production of documents no. 100 by tabling both volumes of the incoming government brief without redaction, or (ii) provide the Senate with more fulsome explanations of the harm that would result from the release of unredacted versions of the briefs.