Build a tunnel then turn on the light

A less generous one is that departments are being directed to keep papers under wraps or are ducking behind legal defences, such as commercial-in-confidence and cabinet-in-confidence, that are later found to be unjustifiable or invalid. Only through persistence have many papers been ultimately released.

For example, last year we sought to make public the contract between the government and the private consortium selected to build nine new public schools. The government initially hid behind privilege.

Advice was sought from retired Supreme Court Judge Sir Lawrence Street who said the grounds for claiming privilege “must be balanced against the public interest in transparency and government accountability in relation to the building, operating and financing of part of the fabric of the public education system in NSW”.

As a result, most of the contract was subsequently released, including the formula used to work out the profits to be made by the consortium.

Transparency and accountability are critical to a healthy democracy. During 10 years of power, the NSW Government has white-anted these twin pillars. A fine example is its recent legislation that effectively dismantles 25 years of hard- won environmental and planning protections. A minister can now decree any major project a “significant development”, further robbing the community of its right to be consulted about, and participate in, the planning process.

The government’s refusal to perform the badly needed job of reviewing our extremely outdated freedom of information laws, despite 10 years of urging by the ombudsman, is another symptom of its distain for openness.

Significant projects like the Cross City tunnel and the private construction of public schools have major ramifications for the community. If the NSW Government decides to give monopoly rights to the private sector, the deals should be open for scrutiny.

Greens MPs are now pursuing the release of the two boxes of papers that will reveal exactly what the government gave away to get a tunnel dug under Sydney. A healthy government would not fear this kind of public scrutiny that is a cornerstone of democracy.