Fighting Blue Mountains City Council for Transparency and Accountability

I am currently fighting Blue Mountains City Council in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to force them to turn over the "secret" asbestos investigation reports under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA). The hearing is set down for 4 April 2019.

Council promises to release the reports and then reneged, citing legal professional privilege. These reports have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars of ratepayers' money, and the public has a right to know who knew, and who did what and when. These reports belong to the community, and they should be made public. The NSW Information and Privacy Commission issued a report reaching the conclusion that there was no legal privilege in the documents, and that they should be released.

All funds raised will be used to pursue Blue Mountains City Council through GIPA and through the courts to obtain the reports and other material surrounding the mishandling and mismanagement of asbestos at Blue Mountains City Council.

Various Blue Mountains Gazette articles about the fight so far:

Media releases just for PR purposes, according to lawyers

Threats over asbestos, court hears

Asbestos reports not cover by legal privilege, commissioner rules

Fight over FOI documents continues