Religious Freedom Review Expert Panel

The majority voted in favour of a motion to make certain documents available to Parliament, which was introduced by Greens Senator Janet Rice (Vic).

Motion text

That—

The Senate

(1) notes the claim of public interest immunity in response to the Senate Order to produce Religious Freedom Review Expert Panel;

(2) cites the Senate's Grounds for Public Interest Immunity Claims, where it states:

It is accepted that deliberations of the Executive Council and of the cabinet should be able to be conducted in secrecy so as to preserve the freedom of deliberation of those bodies. This ground, however, relates only to disclosure of deliberations. There has been a tendency for governments to claim that anything with a connection to cabinet is confidential.

(3) acknowledges the report does not relate to the deliberations of cabinet; and therefore

(4) insists the Order for the Production of Documents be complied with by 3pm 20 September 2018.