CANBERRA — In May, Alex Hawke, the new minister for international development and the Pacific, got an incoming brief. Now, a freedom of information request on the brief has produced a heavily redacted document, raising questions on whether transparency is at the top of the agenda for the Australian aid program.
“We recognise that advice to Ministers is sensitive,” a spokesperson for the Australian Council for International Development told Devex. “But when requests such as this are so heavily redacted, coupled with a lack of progress on transparency and enriching public debate and community engagement, there is an inevitable drop in confidence in what the government is trying to achieve.”
Released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Sept. 3, the document provides briefings for foreign minister Marise Payne, trade minister Simon Birmingham, and Hawke, with briefings specific to Hawke contained in the last 39 pages. Of these, 19 pages have been entirely redacted, 18 pages partially redacted, and only two kept intact.