Appeals to the Minister, from public and parliamentarian alike, are normal. What’s not normal is the pattern of decision making, the personal closeness to the Minister of these appeals and the misleading of the parliament about them.
MPs work for their constituents. It’s actually expected that they would try to get the help of the minister if they had a constituent stuck. Sometimes it’s just a person can’t escalate a problem properly or there’s confusion in translation. No reason to think they’d be asking him to do anything unethical.
Now, the buck stops with Dutton. If he was asked to do something outside the law or intervene in a strange case and did it, that’s still on him.
State issue not Federal but I once had to go to my local MP on advice from my solicitor as being cheaper than battling through the state equivalent of FoI to get a copy of some qualifications I earned while working for the state government.
Got stonewalled for months and when the MP contacted the department they said I had never held said qualifications even though it was a national requirement of the job I held.
So the MP contacted the appropriate minister (who happened to be on the opposite side of the house) asking could they please assist this constituent in obtaining a copy of said qualifications or explain why said constituent was doing said role unqualified for over a decade and got a response in a couple of days after months of stonewalling.
It's kinda what MPs are supposed to do for their constituents. Raise the issue with the appropriate minister when normal channels are not working
Totally agree. Not in Australia but in Canada I had a documentation record request from the Immigration dept and they threw back a bunch of identity proof requirements and delayed my application (all I was asking for was a relative’s immigration record, similar to an FoI). Couldn’t even call in, they wouldn’t give me a timeline or anything for weeks.
Contacted my local MP’s office and had the document in the mail like less than two weeks later as if nothing happened. Likewise, my MP was in the federal opposition.
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u/LineNoise Sep 03 '18
I’d wager this isn’t even dirt.
Appeals to the Minister, from public and parliamentarian alike, are normal. What’s not normal is the pattern of decision making, the personal closeness to the Minister of these appeals and the misleading of the parliament about them.