Delay on report annoys M.P.

Press, 1 October 1983, Page 3

Delay on report annoys M.P.

Parliamentary reporter Government responses to requests for information concerning the decommissioning of the fisheries research vessel W. J. Scott have angered Mr Philip Woollaston (Lab., Nelson). He has been refused information about the basis for the decision to decommission the vessel after seeking it under the Official Information Act. “But my request did uncover the interesting fact that this important decision was made in Treasury, not the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries,” he said yesterday. His request, which took seven weeks to answer, was referred by the Minister of Fisheries, Mr Maclntyre, to the Minister of Finance, Mr Muldoon. The answer came from the Associate Minister of Finance, Mr Falloon, who said that he could not release the Treasury report on the decision. As reasons he gave the protection of confidentiality between Ministers and officials and the maintenance of free and frank expressions of opinions between Ministers and officers. Mr Falloon also said the report contained information that could have a bearing on the vessel’s disposal, and this should not be released yet.