Public information, government style

By ERWIN CHLANDA

The NT Government’s transferring of significant functions from the Office of the Auditor-General to the Ombudsman is proceeding with the administration’s usual contempt for transparency.

The government describes online the office’s current function as “a public institution whose role is to scrutinise the public sector to see to it that there is no wastage of taxpayers' money and that government delivers services in an equitable, efficient and effective manner for the benefit of all the citizenry.”

But all that will change, as Chief Minister Finocchiaro announced on May 22 in a statement about the Public Information Amendment Bill 2025: “The Bill grants the Ombudsman the sole discretion in deciding whether to start, continue, or discontinue a review or investigation of public information, or a complaint under the Act.”

What happens if a Member of Parliament wants the Ombudsman to review certain public information, and the Ombudsman decides not to do so?

All the Ombudsman is required is “to notify the MLA of that decision,” says Ms Finocchiaro.

That is in clearly direct conflict with what the NT Government tells us online: “The Ombudsman is the Parliament's officer whose reporting function is not to the government but to the elected representatives of the people.”

The Alice Springs News requested an interview with Ms Finocchiaro to clarify these issues, transparency and funding. A minder told me she is unavailable: “If you have questions, pls feel free to email them through and we’ll provide a response.”

(The News has made it clear countless times, to governments of both colours, that we don’t get our information from the help. That would be against professional standards and our readers’ expectations. We insist on talking to the source, in this case the Chief Minister, pictured at top right)

And as for the Ombudsman (who is a woman, Traci Keys, pictured at top left), this was the response we got: “Unfortunately, the A/Ombudsman is unavailable to participate in an interview at this stage.”

And all this is about public information.