Leader of the WA Liberals, Dr David Honey MLA, announced today that he is filing a number of Freedom of Information requests in an effort to force much-needed transparency from the increasingly secretive McGowan Government.
Dr Honey said the report in today’s West Australian confirms the McGowan Labor Government’s lack of transparency, especially around COVID planning and WA’s Health System.
“Given their unwillingness to release any COVID emergency meeting documents, it is safe to say that the McGowan Government has proven to be the least transparent and most secretive in our State’s history.
“By denying The West Australian Newspaper’s FOI requests, the McGowan Government has taken active steps to block any attempts to cast light on the Premier’s pandemic management. Inexcusable, but unsurprising.
“For this reason, to try and force some much-needed transparency from the secretive McGowan Government, I will be submitting my own set of freedom of information requests.
“My Freedom of Information requests will cover:
• Meeting dates and times of the State Disaster Council;
• Meeting dates and times of the Security and Emergency Committee;
• The pandemic management documents that were denied to the media;
• The date of the order of rapid antigen tests by the Government;
• Correspondence between Regional Health Services with the State Government; and
• Documents outlining rules and restrictions following the Feb 5th reopening;
“It is owed to the public and the media as a Member of Parliament to seek this critical information from the McGowan Government.
“Despite being just under three weeks from reopening, the public still has no clarity on what life will look like after the hard border ends, and the Premier and Minister Sanderson seem under no rush to clear it up.
“The McGowan Government’s ad-hoc and secretive pandemic planning is just not good enough. Western Australians need transparency and clarity, and need it now”, said Dr Honey.