Pressure mounts on government to release cabinet documents sooner after motion passes parliament

Tasmania's parliament has delivered the Liberal minority government a stinging verdict on integrity and transparency, with two motions passed without the government's support.

Motions from Labor, the Greens, and Independent MP Kristie Johnston were successful during private members' time on Wednesday afternoon.

They included the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry to examine the election campaign, and calls for the government to release more cabinet documents as soon as a month after being considered.

The government supported a third motion that its state-owned businesses, including TT-Line and Tasracing, should be asked to establish a public disclosure log for right to information (RTI) requests.

It comes a day after the state government delivered its response to a review of Tasmania's RTI system, from Rick Snell and Tim McCormack.

That response was deemed "disappointing" by transparency-focused Upper House Independent MLC Meg Webb.

State election to face scrutiny

A four-person committee will be established to scrutinise last year's snap state election campaign and how well the government stuck to caretaker conventions, following a successful motion from Labor.

During election periods, the state service is required to remain apolitical, resources should not be used to advantage a particular party, and the executive should not make major decisions binding an incoming government.

The select committee will look at the government's agreement to progress the Marinus Link electricity cable, spending taxpayer funds advertising the failed state budget, financial assistance for ailing Spirit of Tasmania operator TT-Line, and Tasracing's communications spruiking a liberal election commitment.

"Are we going to allow future election campaigns to be conducted in this way without consequence?" Opposition Leader Josh Willie said.

The government opposed the motion, with the leader of the house, Eric Abetz, saying "kangaroo courts need to be exposed and opposed from the get-go".

He said the four issues raised by the opposition leader had been dealt with, including one of them by the auditor general.

"But somehow he would now have us believe that this parliamentary committee, stacked as it will be with numbers, will somehow be more independent in its assessment than the auditor general," Mr Abetz said.

Greens Leader Rosalie Woodruff said there had been a flouting of the caretaker conventions by the Liberals "election after election".

"They've never been called to heel," Dr Woodruff said.

Calls for release of cabinet documents

The government also did not support a motion calling on it to make some cabinet documents publicly available.

The non-binding motion from Independent MP Kristie Johnston called on the government to release submissions, agendas, and decision papers 30 days after a final decision on an issue.

This was a recommendation of the Snell and McCormack RTI review, which also called for the release of all other cabinet information after 10 years.

The government did not adopt either of these policies; instead, it proposed to implement a release of all documents 20 years later, in line with federal practice.

Ms Johnston told parliament her motion was about "strengthening confidence in government".

"When governments make major decisions involving public money, public risk, and public consequences, the public should be able to see the information that informed those decisions," she said.

The motion passed 16 to 14, with the support of Labor, the Greens, and independents Peter George, Craig Garland, and Helen Burnet.

No current or former cabinet minister supported it.

Former Labor minister, now independent MP David O'Byrne voiced concerns that state servants may be taken out of context, or may not offer "frank and fearless" advice if they know it was going to be released.

"Because there is an element of concern [that] a part of that advice will appear on the front page of The Mercury, The Examiner, or The Advocate," Mr O'Byrne said.

"We see now with social media algorithms the kind of misinformation that's circulated where people have read something — it's one element of an advice, not the full advice — and they have a completely, diametrically, 180-degree misunderstanding of what the advice was designed to provide."

In a statement to the ABC, a state government spokesperson said the government would "consider the motion".

Government supports RTI disclosure log

Meanwhile, a Greens motion called for Government Business Enterprises — commercial government-controlled business — to keep public disclosure logs of RTI requests.

While government departments are required to keep a public register, this does not apply to Government Business Enterprises or state-owned companies.

The issue recently reared its head in parliament, after the ABC reported a senior advisor to racing minister Jane Howlett was made aware of Tasracing messaging that may have breached election conventions.

The emails, which the ABC obtained under the Right To Information (RTI), were eventually tabled in parliament by the government, after Tasracing refused to release them.

Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said it was a "common sense" fix.

"When information is released under RTI laws, it should be made available to the whole Tasmanian public, not just the person or entity who made the application," she told parliament.

During the debate for that motion, Deputy Premier Guy Barnett defended the government's record on transparency