The term national cabinet is “misleading” and extending cabinet secrecy to the intergovernmental body would permanently reduce transparency, Australia’s top human rights body has warned.
The Australian Human Rights Commission made the comments in a submission calling for the central plank of the government’s bill to extend secrecy to national cabinet to be rejected.
However, the national cabinet leaders are pushing back against attempts to subjugate its deliberations into being more transparent, releasing a special joint-statement on Friday night underlining the importance the nation’s leaders place on their discussions remaining confidential.
“The disclosure of national cabinet documents or discussions other than in accordance with the principles agreed by national cabinet would undermine its effective operation and severely damage relations between the commonwealth and the states and territories,” the joint statement said.
“It would potentially expose negotiations and…