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Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has defended the commonwealth’s bid to hide counter-terrorism details from the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion, saying it is the norm for the government to protect cabinet confidentiality.
Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed during a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday the federal government had filed a public interest immunity claim on advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The claim, if accepted, would block the public release of cabinet documents on counter-terrorism funding in the lead up to the Bondi massacre.
On Friday, Ms Rowland told the ABC the federal government and all of its agencies had “fully co-operated” with the royal commission.
“But I think we should also be very clear that we’ve assisted the royal commission to provide redacted versions of witness statements which are suitable for publication,” she said.
“Some of those redactions are applied in some circumstances.
“So, for example, when information is relevant to ongoing criminal proceedings.
“And these also include security classified information or information that goes to cabinet confidentiality.”
While Ms Rowland would not comment on the specific evidence provided, she said there was nothing “novel” about the federal government’s actions.
She added it was a “well-established legal principle” to lodge a public interest immunity claim for cabinet documents in legal proceedings.
“But it’s important also to note that decisions about whether to disclose cabinet information are ultimately a matter for the commissioner,” Ms Rowland said.
“Commissioner Bell can see this information and can release it. She has the authority to do so.
“And if it’s determined to be in the public interest, then that is the case.”
But opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam insisted there was “no justification” for the government’s public interest immunity claim.
“I cannot see how who made the decision relating to funding and resourcing of intelligence agencies is something that should be held back from consideration by the royal commissioner,” he told Sky News.
Senator Duniam said the circumstances of Australia’s most deadly terror attack indicated the royal commission was not “business as usual”.
“The government made decisions, and we need to know exactly what those decisions were, who made them, and what consequences, if any, flowed from those decisions,” he said.
Thursday’s Senate estimates hearing also heard from Australia’s Special Envoy on anti-Semitism Jillian Segal.
She said the rise of anti-Semitism in the wake of the October 7 attack “was something that took this country a little bit by surprise”, and that her hope was to “move anti-Semitism to the margins”.
“We were caught up in our enjoyment of the freedoms and the Australian values and multiculturalism, and perhaps we’re not as aware of the issue until it really became an issue for us,” Ms Segal said.
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