John Lightowlers the new FOI Commissioner
The Desert Rat is thoroughly underwhelmed by the appointment of John Lightowlers the General Counsel in the Department of Premier and Cabinet as the new Freedom of Information Commissioner. Lightowlers may well be competent but many would regard him as too close to the government.
Will Lightowlers, a government insider, be fiercely independent in his new position or will he be just another team player? Will Lightowlers need to have one eye on the ball (information) and the other on McGinty - as was Wookey's problem? One wrong move and your gone?
The appointment of someone from inside the Department of Premier and Cabinet is not what the public needs. How do we make sense of all this other than to conclude McGinty wants to have control over anything that has the potential to embarrass him? With such an unflattering ministerial record, he needs to keep the lid on what has been happening in his portfolios.
The new FOI appointment comes after announcing the sacking of the Acting FOI Commissioner Darryl Wookey, on the pretext that the office being downgraded - code for Wookey presumably failing to do her job to McGinty's satisfaction.
McGinty appointed Wookey for four consecutive one-year acting appointments as FOI Commissioner and cut her pay before he discovered she was not up to the job. Is that dumb management or having the 'Sword of Damocles' hanging over someone's head? Was Wookey's salary cut, presumably because McGinty wanted a person of lesser status to run the FOI office. It doesn't make sense that Lightowlers will be on a much higher salary (Level 9) than Darryl Wookey - to fill such a downgraded position. The new appointment has the hallmarks of McGinty in a state of panic.
What, no media release for the announcement!!
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