Controversial FoI changes sparked after staff complained getting emails every 5 minutes may ‘jam something’
Attorney general says online regulator received nearly 600 freedom of information requests in a short period of time from an ‘automated generator’ and ‘this is why the system is broken’
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The eSafety commissioner’s freedom-of-information staff worried one email every five minutes might “jam something”, according to documents which reveal the under-siege feeling that sparked controversial new proposals to clamp down on FoI in Australia.
The Labor government’s unpopular bill to impose charges for FoI requests and dramatically curtail what information could be released seems set to fail after the Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, said the opposition would vote against it – although the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, said she remained “absolutely committed” to the proposal.