An independent senator is pushing to kill Labor’s controversial freedom-of-information reforms, with crossbench support building and the Coalition undecided.
Labor’s proposed changes to freedom-of-information laws face potential defeat in the Senate, with an independent motion seeking to discharge the bill from the upper house agenda.
Former Labor senator turned independent Fatima Payman has moved a motion to dump the FoI bill, which would introduce higher application charges and tighten access to government information.
The bill passed the House of Representatives last year and is expected to return to the Senate, but Payman said it lacked public support.
“The committee inquiry into the bill received 70 submissions and the only two submissions of support came from government organisations,” she said in a statement.
Payman said the legislation would undermine transparency.
“The bill in its current form will raise revenue but lower accountability,” she told Guardian Australia.
She questioned whether restricting access to information was compatible with democratic principles, arguing it was already difficult for the public to obtain government documents.
The motion is expected to be supported by crossbench senators including David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, as well as the Greens.
The Liberal party is considering whether to back the motion. Speaking on a podcast last week, shadow attorney general Andrew Wallace described the bill as “friendless” and “a dog”, but stopped short of confirming Coalition support.
The motion is expected to be debated in the Senate later today.
