[LINK] FOI/Net Censorship/AI/New Laws, etc.

[Irene Graham]

On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 11:13:13 +1000 Irene Graham <renelk at libertus.net>
wrote:
>On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 08:39:55 +1000 "Chirgwin, Richard" wrote:
>[...]
>>I'd claim to be knowledgeabout about plenty of things, but legislation isn't
>>one of them! So forgive me if I ask: what's the practical impact of the
>>change you've outlined?
>
>The proposed amendments to the FOI Act are designed to further prevent
>public scrutiny (and potential criticism) of the operation of the Internet
>censorship regime. They are unquestionably the government's reaction to
>EFA's attempts to scrutinise the operation and administration of the law by
>ABA and OFLC. In the -three- years since the regime commenced, each of
>those agencies has received only one, yes one, FOI application - both from
>EFA.
[...]
>I am presently preparing a commentary on the claims made by Coalition
>speakers in the House, and I'll provide the URL to that page when it's
>completed.

Detailed info about the proposed changes to FOI law are at:
http://www.efa.org.au/FOI/clabill2002/index.html
There's an index to sub-sections at the beginning. 

Sub-section containing summary of the debate in the House of Reps last
Thurs is:
http://www.efa.org.au/FOI/clabill2002/index.html#HoR03

Irene