Attorney-general defends blocking counterterror documents from Bondi royal commission
Michelle Rowland says it is up to commissioner Virginia Bell to release the documents. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
In short:
The federal government has asked the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion not to release documents related to counterterror resourcing.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the public interest immunity claim it had made was standard procedure for cabinet documents.
What's next?
The final decision on the documents rests with the commissioner, Virginia Bell.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has defended moves by the government to block the public release of cabinet documents relating to counterterrorism funding.
The federal government has made a public interest immunity claim over the documents before the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, essentially arguing it is not in the public interest for the documents to be released.
The royal commission has been looking into decisions made around resourcing for counterterrorism in the years leading up to the Bondi terror attack in December.
Cabinet documents are rarely made public, and the government argues it is simply following that ordinary process of keeping them secret.
Ms Rowland said there was nothing unusual going on.
"There is nothing that the Commonwealth is doing that is novel in terms of there being cabinet confidentiality,"she said.
But the government does have the discretion to release the documents if it wishes.
In a written submission to the royal commission, the director-general of domestic spy agency ASIO, Mike Burgess, refers to the documents the government is seeking to keep secret.
Mike Burgess says ASIO was not directed to shift resources from counterterrorism. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
His answers to questions on cabinet considerations are redacted within the documents.
But he does make clear that ASIO was not asked by the government to shift resources away from counterterrorism.
"ASIO was not directed by any minister between January 1, 2023 and November 2025 to reduce [counterterror] efforts to service other priorities," he said.
"I am not aware of any such decision or direction by any minister to any [intelligence] agency."
Ms Rowland said the government was following typical procedures, and the final decision rested with commissioner Virginia Bell.
If Commissioner Bell decides to uphold the public interest immunity claim, she cannot consider the information contained within the documents in her findings.
"It's a well established legal principle that cabinet documents and information of that nature attract public interest immunity in legal proceedings and royal commissions, but it's important also to note that decisions about whether to disclose cabinet information are ultimately a matter for the commissioner," she said.
"Commissioner Bell can see this information and can release it, she has the authority to do so and if it's determined to be in the public interest then that is the case."
Jonathon Duniam has accused the government of trying to protect itself against scrutiny. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
The government has repeatedly insisted that Australia's national security agencies, including ASIO, have had funding increases since Labor came to office in 2022.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonathon Duniam argued the government should drop the public interest immunity claim in the interest of transparency.
"The royal commission must be able to examine the full range of information and chain of decisions around counterterrorism funding, including what ministers and cabinet knew and what actions they did or didn't take," he said.
"This looks far less about protecting the public interest than about hectically protecting the government from scrutiny."